Francis McCabe
THE SECOND HUSBAND, and the reason the Commandant's widow is filed under the wrong surname in the Free State estate index. LANDDROST OF BLOEMFONTEIN, son of DR PATRICK McCABE, a Staff-Assistant Surgeon attached to the British Army on the Cape Frontier; his mother ROSE died at Bloemfontein on 1 August 1858, aged 72 years 3 months and 8 days. He married Anna Jacoba van der Merwe about APRIL 1871 — “his second wife, about ten months since” — and was dead within fifteen months. ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE STATE'S INDEPENDENCE he had spent the day superintending the burghers' annual target shooting for the government prize; at a quarter past five he set off by spring-cart for the Diamond Fields meaning to sleep at his own farm “UITVLUGT” on the Modder River; at about half past seven, in deceptive moonlight and one hour's ride short of the farm of G.F. Enslin, the cart went into a sluit washed out by the rains. He was dead of heart disease that evening. HE LEFT FOUR SONS AND TWO DAUGHTERS OF HIS OWN AND “A LARGE FAMILY OF STEP-CHILDREN”, which is a newspaper counting the Commandant's twelve. His brother JOSEPH, the well-known trader and traveller, had died in the interior in December 1865; his brother JOHN died at Bloemfontein in 1860. He was buried on the Sunday afternoon at six o'clock, the coffin carried by the resident members of the Volksraad and the principal government officers, with the State President and upwards of two hundred walking behind. 15 SEPTEMBER, FROM THE FREE STATE ESTATE INDEX. VAB MHG C129: “MCCABE, FRANCIS. EGGENOTES 1) MARIA PETRONELLA ELISABETHA ANTOINETTA RAATH EN 2) ANNA (GEBORE VAN DER MERWE)”, 1872 — SO HE HAD A FIRST WIFE AND SHE HAS A NAME. And VAB 1/3/1/12 BC11: “MCCABE, FRANCIS. INSOLVENTE BOEDEL”, with the remark “BEVAT GEEN STERFKENNIS NIE” — CONTAINS NO DEATH NOTICE. The Landdrost of Bloemfontein, buried with the State President walking behind him and two hundred people after that, LEFT AN INSOLVENT ESTATE. His widow's own entry, M777, names both her husbands, so the remarriage is in the archives and not only in a newspaper. 27 SEPTEMBER 2026 — THE MARRIAGE REGISTER CONFIRMS THE OFFICE AND THE CONDITION, AND FIXES THE DATE. The Free State civil marriage entry of 13 JULY 1871 — not “about April”, which was a tree's guess — enters him as FRANCIS McCABE, 53, WEDUWNAAR, LANDDROST, of Bloemfontein. WEDUWNAAR is the register agreeing with VAB MHG C129, which names a first wife: he had been widowed before he married the Commandant's widow. An age of 53 in July 1871 agrees with the birth date of 29 September 1817 to within three months, from a different document. He signed his own name. He had SEVEN MONTHS AND TEN DAYS left.
Every record naming Francis McCabe →
The marriage record
Married Anna Jacoba van der Merwe · 13 Jul 1871 · Orange Free State a record read here THE IMAGE IS READ, AND THE REGISTER SAYS THE WORD IN ITS OWN HAND. She is entered “ANNA JACOBA KOLBE, GEB: VAN DER MERWE”, aged 46, condition WEDUWE, no occupation, living at LEEUWBERG (BLOEMF.) — the farm her first husband died on. He is FRANCIS McCABE, 53, condition WEDUWNAAR, LANDDROST, of Bloemfontein. So this archive's duplicate is withdrawn on the document and not merely on the arithmetic: she is the Commandant's widow, under his surname, as the tree's “about April 1871” never quite said. Married by LICENTIE rather than banns, with the consent column empty because both were of age; entry 874, stamped 5167; solemnised by GUSTAV RADLOFF, V.D.M. in the church of the Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Gemeente at Bloemfontein. SHE SIGNED IT HERSELF, A. Jacoba Kolbe geboren van der merwe, which is the first time this archive has seen her hand. Witnesses: an illegible first signature and [J or F]. M. DE VILLIERS. FamilySearch 1:1:6ZH1-PJDY, image 3:1:3Q9M-CSK8-G98P-6, DGS 008145483 image 186 of 283. What Was Searched →
The record
| Name | Francis McCabe |
| Born | 29 Sep 1817, a military post in what became British Kaffraria |
| Died | 23 Feb 1872, the Modder River road, district Bloemfontein |
| Line | Kolbe |
| Confidence | Documented |
What the archive holds
THE SECOND HUSBAND, and the reason the Commandant's widow is filed under the wrong surname in the Free State estate index. LANDDROST OF BLOEMFONTEIN, son of DR PATRICK McCABE, a Staff-Assistant Surgeon attached to the British Army on the Cape Frontier; his mother ROSE died at Bloemfontein on 1 August 1858, aged 72 years 3 months and 8 days. He married Anna Jacoba van der Merwe about APRIL 1871 — “his second wife, about ten months since” — and was dead within fifteen months. ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE STATE'S INDEPENDENCE he had spent the day superintending the burghers' annual target shooting for the government prize; at a quarter past five he set off by spring-cart for the Diamond Fields meaning to sleep at his own farm “UITVLUGT” on the Modder River; at about half past seven, in deceptive moonlight and one hour's ride short of the farm of G.F. Enslin, the cart went into a sluit washed out by the rains. He was dead of heart disease that evening. HE LEFT FOUR SONS AND TWO DAUGHTERS OF HIS OWN AND “A LARGE FAMILY OF STEP-CHILDREN”, which is a newspaper counting the Commandant's twelve. His brother JOSEPH, the well-known trader and traveller, had died in the interior in December 1865; his brother JOHN died at Bloemfontein in 1860. He was buried on the Sunday afternoon at six o'clock, the coffin carried by the resident members of the Volksraad and the principal government officers, with the State President and upwards of two hundred walking behind. 15 SEPTEMBER, FROM THE FREE STATE ESTATE INDEX. VAB MHG C129: “MCCABE, FRANCIS. EGGENOTES 1) MARIA PETRONELLA ELISABETHA ANTOINETTA RAATH EN 2) ANNA (GEBORE VAN DER MERWE)”, 1872 — SO HE HAD A FIRST WIFE AND SHE HAS A NAME. And VAB 1/3/1/12 BC11: “MCCABE, FRANCIS. INSOLVENTE BOEDEL”, with the remark “BEVAT GEEN STERFKENNIS NIE” — CONTAINS NO DEATH NOTICE. The Landdrost of Bloemfontein, buried with the State President walking behind him and two hundred people after that, LEFT AN INSOLVENT ESTATE. His widow's own entry, M777, names both her husbands, so the remarriage is in the archives and not only in a newspaper. 27 SEPTEMBER 2026 — THE MARRIAGE REGISTER CONFIRMS THE OFFICE AND THE CONDITION, AND FIXES THE DATE. The Free State civil marriage entry of 13 JULY 1871 — not “about April”, which was a tree's guess — enters him as FRANCIS McCABE, 53, WEDUWNAAR, LANDDROST, of Bloemfontein. WEDUWNAAR is the register agreeing with VAB MHG C129, which names a first wife: he had been widowed before he married the Commandant's widow. An age of 53 in July 1871 agrees with the birth date of 29 September 1817 to within three months, from a different document. He signed his own name. He had SEVEN MONTHS AND TEN DAYS left.
- 23 Sep 2026 — Anna Jacoba Kolbe married Francis McCabe on 13 July 1871 — one of two marriages between the Commandant’s children and the Landdrost’s
SHE IS NOT A DAUGHTER. SHE IS THE WIDOW, UNDER HER FIRST HUSBAND'S SURNAME, and this archive briefly held one woman as two people. South Africa, Civil Marriage Records enters ANNA JACOBA KOLBE; the archive already held ANNA JACOBA VAN DER MERWE, widow of J. G. E. KOLBE, remarrying Francis McCabe “about April 1871” on a Geni profile. Same groom, same year, three months apart — and a widow is recorded under her married name, which this archive already knew, having noted that the Free State estate index files her under McCabe for the same reason. THE TELL WAS ARITHMETIC, NOT PALAEOGRAPHY: a man does not marry twice in three months, and the duplicate stood on the page for a day before anybody added the two dates together. WHAT SURVIVES AND IS BETTER THAN WHAT WAS LOST: the marriage now carries a documented date, 13 July 1871, in place of a family tree's about April. The duplicate person is withdrawn, the two timeline entries are merged, and the marriage register names the widow. WHAT WOULD PUT IT BEYOND DOUBT: a civil marriage entry records each party's condition, so the unread image says “widow” or it does not, and settles it in a word. The second McCabe marriage is untouched — Jan Hendrik Kolbe and Rose Maria McCabe, 4 June 1872, remains two young people and not a widow. 27 SEPTEMBER 2026 — THE IMAGE IS READ AND IT SAYS THE WORD. The register enters her “ANNA JACOBA KOLBE, GEB: VAN DER MERWE”, 46, WEDUWE, and him WEDUWNAAR. The withdrawal was right, and it is now held on the document instead of on the arithmetic that found it. WHICH IS WORTH SAYING PLAINLY: THE ARITHMETIC WAS ENOUGH TO ACT ON AND NOT ENOUGH TO REST ON, and four days passed between the two. Where it stands →
The documents
…It wrote of the 1890 baptism: “a second Kolbe–McCabe marriage in the same small Free State world, and this archive does not yet know whether that is a coincidence.” If this profile is right, it is not a coincidence : the Commandant’s widow Anna Jacoba van der Merwe married Francis McCabe , Landdrost of Bloemfontein, about April 1871 — and her son married a McCabe . Stepmother and daughter-in-law out of the same family. A fourth Frederik Fortunatus. This one is born 1857 at Bloemfontein and dead there in 1930 . He is not the Settler’s tenth child (born 1839 at Bethulie, died 1929 at Utrecht), and not Frederick Fortunatus Downing Kolbe (died 1918, TAB MHG 40293).…
The Marriages
…1828 David Schalk van der Merwe & Jacoba Catharina Mountjoy · Cradock Petrus Jacobus Booysen & Johanna Catharina Mountjoy · Cradock John Augustus Barry I & Margaretha Wilhelmina Elizabeth Mary Kolbe · Colesberg George Mountjoy & Maria Sophia Botha · Cradock Petrus Jacobus Booysen & Johanna Margaritha Pretorius · bef.…
The People
…He is where the forename STEPHANUS FRANCOIS comes into this family, and that matters: the archive has a Stephanus Francois Booyzen whose parentage it inferred and cannot prove. A zinc building in Market Street Disputed Francis McCabe Documented 29 Sep 1817, a military post in what became British Kaffraria 23 Feb 1872, the Modder River road, district Bloemfontein THE SECOND HUSBAND, and the reason the Commandant's widow is filed under the wrong surname in the Free State estate index.…
Anna Jacoba van der Merwe
…The Free State civil marriage register, 13 JULY 1871, enters her as “ANNA JACOBA KOLBE, GEB: VAN DER MERWE” , aged 46 , condition WEDUWE , occupation a dash, living at LEEUWBERG (BLOEMF.) — the farm her husband died on, and the first record to place her there rather than at Springfield. Francis McCabe is entered opposite her as 53, WEDUWNAAR, LANDDROST , of Bloemfontein. Married by LICENTIE rather than by banns, entry 874, by GUSTAV RADLOFF V.D.M. in the church of the Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Gemeente at Bloemfontein. AN AGE OF 46 IN JULY 1871 PUTS HER BIRTH ABOUT 1825, which is the first indication of it this archive has had from a document. AND SHE SIGNED IT HERSELF — A.…
Francis McCabe
…LANDDROST OF BLOEMFONTEIN, son of DR PATRICK McCABE, a Staff-Assistant Surgeon attached to the British Army on the Cape Frontier; his mother ROSE died at Bloemfontein on 1 August 1858, aged 72 years 3 months and 8 days.…
Jan Hendrik Kolbe
…The atlas → One correction on this site names Jan Hendrik Kolbe. A correction here is filed against the page it changed, not against a person, so until now it could be read on the corrections register and nowhere else — least of all on the page of the person it was about. 23 Sep 2026 — Anna Jacoba Kolbe married Francis McCabe on 13 July 1871 — one of two marriages between the Commandant’s children and the Landdrost’s SHE IS NOT A DAUGHTER. SHE IS THE WIDOW, UNDER HER FIRST HUSBAND'S SURNAME , and this archive briefly held one woman as two people. South Africa, Civil Marriage Records enters ANNA JACOBA KOLBE ; the archive already held ANNA JACOBA VAN DER MERWE, widow of J. G. E.…
Rose Maria McCabe
…FamilySearch 1:1:6ZHB-XQ1R, image 3:1:3Q9M-CSK8-G98V-M, DGS 008145483 image 221 of 283. What Was Searched → Every marriage this archive places → The record Name Rose Maria McCabe Also written Rose Maria Kolbe, after 1872 Born c. 1855 Died — Line McCabe Confidence Documented From a tree not documented That Francis McCabe was her father is still the tree's claim. The image was read and the form names no parents; what it gives instead is that she was a minor, that her MOTHER consented, and that she was living on the Kolbes' farm. — the rest of this record rests on documents this archive has read, and that part does not. What the archive holds SEVENTEEN, FATHERLESS, AND ALREADY LIVING IN THE HOUSE SHE MARRIED INTO.…
The Register
…link reconstructed by this archive Emil Walter Julius Baptism 4 Aug 1945 South Africa | Birth 24 Oct 1944 · with: Emil Walter Julius Kuman · Maria Magdalena Pretorius record ↗ South Africa, Netherdutch Reformed Church Registers (Pretoria Archive), 1838-1991 Evert Philip Boshoff reconstructed — no public link reconstructed by this archive Francis McCabe reconstructed 29 Sep 1817, a military post in what became British Kaffraria · 23 Feb 1872, the Modder River road, district Bloemfontein no public link reconstructed by this archive Frederick Fortunatus Werdmuller reconstructed 1953 — estate KAB MOOC 6/9/20496, 115/53 no public link reconstructed by this archive Gabriel Jacobus Lowies reconstructed — no public link reconstructed by this archive Ge…
The Timeline
…f the Commandant's sons take church membership at Bloemfontein on the same day 3 Apr 1869 — Two brothers admitted to membership at Rustenburg on one Sunday 13 Jan 1870 — Wildebeestkooi advertised, “adjoining the farm Leeuberg, the property of the late J.G.E. Kolbe” 19 Jan 1870 — Gerrit Jacobus Booÿsen born 13 Jul 1871 — His widow marries Francis McCabe, Landdrost of Bloemfontein 23 Feb 1872 — Francis McCabe dies on the Modder River road 4 Jun 1872 — Jan Hendrik Kolbe marries Rose Maria McCabe at Bloemfontein 29 May 1873 — A Petrus Jacobus baptised at Lady Grey, six years before the family married there 1 Sep 1876 — Petrus Jacobus Booysen dies at Rustenburg, aged 88 1 Sep 1876 — Petrus Jacobus Booysen dies in district Rustenburg, aged 88 22 Dec…
The women
…Six months later a horse thief took a black mare and foal from her at Springfield, ward Upper Modder River , and the court wrote her down as owner in her own name. It is the only document in this archive that shows her doing anything at all. On 13 July 1871 she married Francis McCabe, Landdrost of Bloemfontein . He died on 23 February 1872 — seven months — leaving “four sons and two daughters, besides a large family of step-children”. For seven months there were eighteen children attached to one household. The marriage register was read on 27 September 2026 and it gives her back to herself.…
Others on the Kolbe side
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A dossier is every mention of a person anywhere in this archive, gathered automatically after the site is built and linked back to the page it appears on. Identity here is by NAME, not by resolved individual — where two people share a name they share this page, and the archive says so rather than guessing. Nothing on a dossier page is new evidence; it is the same evidence, brought together.