Introduction:

When I first began researching the life of Hercules Jacobus McCarthy, I had no idea that he had been married more than once.

At that stage, only fragments of his life survived through scattered family stories and a handful of old documents. After the death of his first wife, Susanna Cecilia Stoffelina Elisabeth Therblanche, the trail became difficult to follow.

Susanna died on 29 May 1909 at Kafferskraal in the Marico district during an influenza outbreak. She was only thirty-one years old. According to family stories, Hercules struggled deeply with her death. For a period he left his children with neighbours and wandered from place to place trying to rebuild his life.

For years, almost nothing was known about his second marriage.

Then one evening, while searching through references in the Transvaal archives, I came across a possible clue. I was unsure whether the record truly referred to my great-grandfather’s second wife. Tinkie de Lange, a friend and member of the Richards Bay Genealogy Club, kindly assisted by transcribing the archive material for me in Pretoria.

Slowly, another forgotten chapter of the McCarthy story began to emerge.

The records revealed that Maria Jacoba Elizabeth van Heerden was born in Philipolis in 1873. Her father, Johannes Petrus van Heerden, was listed as a digger living at the Kameelfontein diggings in the Pretoria district at the time of her death. Her mother’s names were recorded simply as Maria Jacoba Elizabeth.

Before marrying Hercules McCarthy, Maria had already lived through a full and difficult family life of her own.

Her first husband was Sarel van Heerden, who died in July 1915. Together they had nine children:

• Sarel Jacobus van Heerden
• Johannes Petrus van Heerden
• Maria Jacoba van Heerden
• David Jacobus van Heerden
• Andrina Catharina van Heerden
• Anna Sophia van Heerden
• Gabriel Andries van Heerden
• Anna Maria van Heerden
• Lozia Christina van Heerden

Sometime between 1915 and 1916, Maria married Hercules Jacobus McCarthy in Bloemhof.

The marriage came during a difficult period in both their lives. Hercules was still recovering from the emotional and financial devastation caused by the Anglo-Boer War and the death of his first wife, while Maria herself had recently lost her husband and was raising a large family.

The couple settled on the farm Heuningkrantz near Wolmaranstad, although some family members later referred to the property as Doringkrantz.

No children were born from the marriage. Their time together appears to have been short.

On 20 September 1918, Maria Jacoba Elizabeth McCarthy, born van Heerden, died on the farm Heuningkrantz at the age of forty-five.

Once again Hercules found himself widowed.

The surviving estate papers provide an unusually detailed glimpse into the difficult realities that followed her death. Because Hercules and Maria had apparently been married in community of property and without a formal will, complicated legal and financial problems arose concerning the inheritance rights of Maria’s children from her first marriage.

On 8 November 1918, Hercules instructed his attorney to write to the Master of the Supreme Court explaining the situation.

The letter revealed the enormous pressure he faced.

If forced to sell the farm in order to settle the estate, Hercules argued that he would lose the means to support both himself and the children. He proposed instead that independent valuations be done on the property and that the adult children receive their shares while the minors would be paid once they came of age.

The letter also revealed something deeply human and uncomfortable — Hercules stated that if the estate were sold, he would no longer be able to support Maria’s children because they were not his own bloodline.

The surviving documents do not present a polished or heroic version of family history. Instead, they reveal the difficult realities faced by ordinary farming families trying to survive in rural South Africa after war, poverty, death, and financial hardship.

In October 1918 Hercules signed the inventory of Maria’s movable estate, prepared by attorney M. Boshoff. The estate was valued at approximately three hundred pounds.

Over the following years further estate documents were signed in Makwassie as the legal process slowly unfolded.

For many years the story might have ended there — buried within old archive files and forgotten legal papers.

Then, in April 2012, another remarkable moment occurred during the family research journey.

While visiting my aunt Lettie Swaters in Makwassie, I asked whether she knew where the old farm Heuningkrantz had once been located. Together we travelled toward Wolmaranstad seeking information.

At the local municipality we received unexpected help. Amazingly, the old farm maps still showed the location of Heuningkrantz. Along the way we stopped at a small rural store where we were directed to a local farmer named Servaas van Heerden, whose family had lived in the district for many years.

When I explained my research, Servaas suddenly remembered seeing an old grave on the farm many years earlier. Excited but cautious, we drove out onto the property. At first nothing could be found. Then Servaas pointed toward a cluster of trees and shrubs.

After clearing away overgrowth, we discovered the grave completely intact. Ninety-five years after her death, I found myself standing beside the grave of my great-grandfather’s second wife. It was a humbling experience.

The inscription on the headstone confirmed much of the information already uncovered through the records: “Ter nagedagtenis aan my geliefde eggenote”

• Maria Jacoba Elizabeth McCarthy
• Geb. van Heerden
• Geb. 6 Maart 1873
• Overl. 20 September 1918
• Siekbed van 7 dagen

Servaas also showed me the remains of the old farmhouse, hidden among trees near the Vaal River. Only the foundations still survived. According to local memory, Hercules and Maria had once planted trees and even a row of pomegranates around the home.

Nearby stood a monument connected to General Beyers, who reportedly drowned in the area during the rebellion years. Old soldier graves were also said to exist on the farm, although these could not be verified.

Standing there beside the grave, the distant names found in archive documents suddenly became real once more.

What had begun as a forgotten reference in an old Transvaal archive had eventually led back to a lonely grave beside the Vaal River — and to another life slowly recovered from the past.

Timeline:

Year	Event
28 Mar 1870	Hercules Jacobus McCarthy born in Humansdorp
6 Mar 1873	Maria Jacoba Elizabeth van Heerden born in Philipolis
29 May 1909	Susanna Cecilia Stoffelina Elisabeth McCarthy, first wife of Hercules, died at Kafferskraal, Marico
Jul 1915	Sarel van Heerden, Maria’s first husband, died
c.1915–1916	Maria Jacoba Elizabeth van Heerden married Hercules Jacobus McCarthy in Bloemhof
20 Sep 1918	Maria Jacoba Elizabeth McCarthy died on the farm Heuningkrantz near Wolmaranstad at age 45
Oct 1918	Hercules signed the inventory of Maria’s movable estate
8 Nov 1918	Hercules instructed his attorney to petition the Master of the Supreme Court regarding the estate
19 May 1919	Hercules signed estate liquidation documents in Makwassie
7 Nov 1919	Estate payments made for Maria’s minor children
22 Aug 1920	Hercules’s signature appeared on Maria’s death notice and estate records
25 Jan 1924	Hercules signed documents stating that his minor children did not object to his remarriage
2 Apr 2012	Visit to Heuningkrantz led to the rediscovery of Maria’s grave

Documents & Evidence:

Key records and discoveries connected to Maria Jacoba Elizabeth van Heerden include:

• Transvaal archive references
• Death certificate of Maria Jacoba Elizabeth McCarthy
• Estate papers and legal correspondence
• Property valuation documents
• Inventory of movable estate
• Correspondence with the Master of the Supreme Court
• Oral family history preserved through Aunt Lettie Swaters
• Local farm knowledge provided by Servaas van Heerden
• Rediscovered grave and headstone inscription at Heuningkrantz
• Municipal farm maps from Wolmaranstad district

Together these records helped recover another largely forgotten branch of the McCarthy family story.

Open Questions:

Despite the surviving documents and later discoveries, several important questions still remain:

• What were Maria’s experiences during her first marriage to Sarel van Heerden?
• Why do some family members remember the farm as Doringkrantz while official records refer to Heuningkrantz?
• Are there surviving descendants from Maria’s first marriage who may still hold family records or photographs?
• Can additional photographs of the Heuningkrantz homestead still be found?
• Were the reported soldier graves and General Beyers connections on the farm historically linked to the area?
• Can more information be found regarding Maria’s early years in Philipolis and the Pretoria diggings?
• Are there additional court or estate records still preserved in Bloemhof, Wolmaranstad, or Pretoria archives?