Christoffel Snyman - Was he actually ever a slave?

I have invited Private to share her DNA concerns with us here:
http://www.geni.com/discussions/142182

This probably sounds really trivial..But I bet our Christoffel was a really handsome man..Offspring of Europeans & Asians very often are..I wonder if his looks..if they were good..helped him get on in life..Sorry, I know it's not pertinent to the discussion here, but...just wondering.....

Simple fact all ... a child born to an enslaved mother was automatically born enslaved. May I also please ask that you refrain from further downloads of the old article ... I broke the link on FFY for a reason, and forgot to remove the physical copy. I am now having difficulty with the site and cannot log on - hopefully that will be resolved today. Finally ... patience. The new article will soon be available.

I think it is unacceptable to run away, or hide, from historical facts.

History is filled with insensitivity, and I think we must be able to document these facts without prejudice. I am probably related this person as well. Already found some other interesting facts about my blood line since I started researching my family tree a few months ago.

Do I hide from it? No. Am I sensitive about it? No. It is a fact, and I accept it as a fact.

Don't destroy our history by hiding the facts.

Francois Cornelius Swart, i3j5 Bravo! Well said!

@ Francois Cornelius Swart. Well stated. I agree with you. We need the true facts.

Adri

We do indeed!

At this point I have nothing of use to add - but thank you for what you guys do .. interesting indeed!!

His my 8th great grandfather on dad side - so pretty close home I say :-)

Will def be following this discussion - but currently my focus is on another project - so all you get from me on this is THANK YOU :-)

I agree that we need to keep to the facts. I am in full agreement with Richard Ball's closing comment: 'But this is a theory - there is no conclusive proof possible. I would, therefore, suggest, in genealogical write-ups, adding a note to Christoffel Snyman's details referring to his circumstances and Mansell Upham's theory rather than allocating him a father and mother when both are open to discussion.' [source: Documents for Christoffel Snyman, Geni]

I'm not following you, Alexander. He hasn't been allocated a father & a mother. The evidence and documentation isn't in question.

Sure, to clarify. Let me say off the bat that I have nothing against a good story. I enjoy them as much as the next guy. However, in genealogical write-ups the facts need to be separated from theory.

Christoffel Snyman's life as the child of Catrijn 'the slave' as opposed to Catrijn 'the free slave' is not conclusive and the theory of social mobility in Mansell Upham's article are based on inferences. This needs to be clarified with the objective of distinguishing the unadulterated documented facts. Theories are great! They provide new insights, however, when the line between theory and fact is not clear it is counterproductive, even if theory seems to make sense it remains a theory until such a time as it is either confirmed, adjusted or disgarded.

A note clarifying the following with regards to statements such as '... first ... to have married into the white community.'

Important note: Christoffel Snijman's details herein refer to his circumstances as per Mansell Upham's theory ("In Hevigen Woede", Mansell Upham, Capensis).

Private User - Not sure how much you known about Mansell Uphan or what your background is in South African genealogical research, but Upham's conclusions are much more than mere inferences. They are based on sound analysis, his intimate knowledge of the record, the law, the paleography, and the tiny population at Cape in the period under discussion. If we recorded only on what you call "unadulterated documented facts" we would know next to nothing about the period. For example, do you know how many Christoffel's were baptised at the Cape prior to 1700? Do you know the size of the population and each of its elements? How much of the original record have you personally consulted - baptisms,marriages, schepenkennise, court records? Have you published anything on the period? I would love to read it if you have. Mansell's 'good stories' as you label them are based on examination of all of these, and more; on a process of examination and elimination of all the potential candidates, etc.

As with all historical sciences, genealogy tries to establish facts using proper research techniques and the limited historical data we have available. As we cannot go back in time, the evidence is limited.
As Private User said, we all agree that we need to keep to the facts. The problem is that many statements assumed to be true facts are actually theories, hypotheses, inferences and sometimes just best guesses based on the available information. When such inferences are being presented as true facts, we are on a slippery road. The researcher's world view, political correctness of the day, peer pressure etc. all play a role in statements made.

I think postings such as curator notes should ideally have traceable references to verifiable true facts.

I traced one of the web references given in one of the postings above, and it lead to a reference to a private email, but the private email is not available (at least not on internet). Is that enough to proof a statement to be a true fact? I don't think so. It does not make it false either. When we refer to that statement, I don't think we should assume it to be the truth though.

So, how do we get the real facts surrounding Christoffel Snyman and his ancestors? We need to start with what is verifiable facts. A good start would be existing records in archives and DNA tests in my opinion. Research using the above and supporting historical documents can also provide interesting information (like Mansell Upham's research papers), but we need to be careful to distinguish between facts and inferences in any document.

In an attempt to get more certainty on the parenthood of Christoffel Snyman, as a Snyman male I've had my Y-DNA (paternal DNA) and mtDNA (maternal) tested.

My total genetic make-up (paternal and maternal lines combined) is very close to that of current day Germans (data for France and Holland is not available yet). Like Germans (and other northern Europeans), my genes contain a combination of only three of the nine original ancestral regions, namely Northern European (me 43%, German 46%), Mediterranean (me 36%, German 36%) and Southwest Asian (me 18%, German 17%). (Neither the German nor my own makeup adds up to 100% - that is the accuracy that can be attained with the tests done so far).

We need more Snyman males to have their DNA tested though (see http://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000025851668631 for early Snyman DNA results).

I've also started a discussion http://www.geni.com/discussions/142201?msg=977055 in an attempt to get more certainty on Christoffel Snyman's mother's ancestry. It may well be that there are no living people anymore whose maternal lines trace back to Groote Catrijn though.

Getting back to the curators note on Christoffel Snyman's profile, how about something like the following:
Current thinking is that he was the son of a German father and an Indian mother (a convict and slave who was freed around the time of his birth). He grew up as a free man, married a French Huguenot wife and farmed in the Drakenstein area.

Thank you Delia, You and Mansell Upham do fantastic work, and we are very lucky to have your valued input on this forum.

Regarding facts and inferences, Personally I am a little confused as to what the disputed issues are...

Maybe the different sides would like to list what they regard as the facts and which they regard as inferences... that way we can hone in on the issues??

Private User: You are making several good points.
I agree that we are fortunate to have good researchers (Mansell Upham, Delia etc). I also know that Private User is doing very good work in the genealogy field, including on the DNA side.

In terms of a list of what we regard as facts and what as inferences - perhaps we can start a list of questions on statements that seem to be accepted as facts. The title of this discussion is a logical start:

1. Christoffel Snyman - Was he actually ever a slave?

One can also add:

2. Was Hans Christoffel Schneider definitely the biological father of Christoffel Snyman?

Perhaps we need a new discussion for such questions!

Kornelius Snyman and Private User - Thank you for your kind words.
Answers:
1. Yes, as a child born to an enslaved mother, in terms of the prevailing statutes, Christoffel was born a slave. His manumission appears to have been de facto along with that of his mother. It must be noted that going back to Batavia, Groote Catrijn, even though a slave and (at the Cape) a convict, enjoyed the support of some powerful people, particularly Joan Maetsuycker. Why this was so remains unclear, but time and again he was instrumental in decisions that benefited her. That probably explains Christoffel's unofficial slide into freedom.
2. There is no other qualified candidate than Hans Christoffel Schneider to be Christoffel's biological father. He is punished for sleeping with Groote Catrijn and in the right time frame. Your Y-DNA result is another piece of evidence in support of the conclusion that he is indeed the biological father, as is the fact that Christoffel used variant of his name, and he is referred to in the court record as Hans Christoffle Snijman, and is twice enumerated thus.

I am a descendant of Christoffel Snyman. It was only recently that I found out that he was my ancestor. Slavery was a fact of life and we should never deny history but learn from it. Therefore my two cents is as follows; I believe
The facts should be stated...no matter how it offends some in denial.
What are the facts as we know them...he was born to an Indian women who was at the time a slave to the VOC and his German father was a soldier with the VOC. He married The daughter of Jacques De Savoye a
Frenchman.
Please include his history in your curator notes as it was very
Enlightening to me, a descendant. We cannot change who we are by political correctness or learn from history. We know that his descendants included many famous people, great leaders who contributed greatly to the country. I am a proud descendant and hope all his descendants will feel
The same way.
Shirley.

Thank you Delia Robertson for the interesting clarification.
Both answers given are surely the most likely explanations given the information available today. Your carefully worded clarification of the first "yes" answer is exemplary, e.g. the use of terms such as: "appears to have been", "remains unclear", "probably explains" and "unofficial slide into freedom". Such terms clearly show that this is a logical conclusion given the information available, but that one wouldn't bet your life on it.

Unfortunately such care is not always applied when information is copied to geni and other internet sites. For example, before 23 May this year, Christoffel Snyman's occupation on his profile included: "Slave in the DEIC service". His occupation was certainly never a slave.

As a Snyman in my 50s, I've seen many theories regarding Christoffel Snyman's ancestry come and go. Hopefully we have the truth now, but I don't think anyone would claim 100% certainty.

In terms of my DNA results, it is only one sample 9 generations later. Assuming it is a true sample of male-only blood-ancestors of Christoffel Snyman, it seems to reject a previous theory of Anthonij Jansz van Bengale, SV/PROG being Christoffel's biological father.
It also allows for the theory of a European biological father.
The above is in line with Mansell Upham's conclusions.

However, my Y-DNA haplogroup I-M253 is most prevalent in Fenno-Scandinavia, not central Europe (incl. Germany). According to wikipedia Germany is 7th on the list of countries where I-M253 is present, behind France and even England. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_I-M253). I cannot help to wonder about the presence of Scandinavians at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th century? Could one of them have had a relationship with Groote Catrijn? Perhaps this was researched before, any results will be interesting. I've lost the source unfortunately, but I did read somewhere about Groote Catrijn taking care of an orphan. Could it be that Christoffel Snyman was an orphan, and that he was given a logical identity (of Hans Christoffel Schneider) by Groote Catrijn? I'm merely speculating here, but the point is that there may still be other possibilities for Christoffel's ancestry. Using Occam's razor one would go for the current theory as the most plausible by far, but how certain are we? Perhaps 90%

Shirley, I have not seen anyone here denying that slavery was a fact of life and that we should never deny history.
However, if we are not 100% sure of the exact history, then I think we should include that uncertainty in any statements we make, and not propagate romantic sensational statements for true facts, such as "Slave in the DEIC" service.

The system of correcting issues on such historical profiles on geni seems to be working well in this case, and the reference to "Slave in the DEIC service" is not on his profile anymore.

Thanks again to Sharon Lee Doubell for starting this discussion.

Private User, the reference you provided as prove that Christoffel Snyman was born in bondage traced to:
[S203] E-mails from Mansell Upham (e-mail address) to Delia Robertson, 2001 (Personal Library).
Assuming that you are the Delia Robertson that received those emails:
Is it perhaps possible to make them (or relevant extracts) available publicly?

Delia Robertson - I should have addressed you in the previous posting: Please see my request there.

Good morning Kornelius Snyman

If you look at the heatmap for M253, while most heavily concentrated in Nordic countries - it occurs as far south as Portugal and west into the United Kingdom. Through the ages there were population movements and many wars that took men all over the continent.

If your genealogical research is sound (I have no reason to think otherwise), your descent from Christoffel Snyman is certain. Y-DNA is extremely stable and does not change from one generation to the next - it certainly does not change in 9 generations. Therefore, your Y-DNA is Christoffel Snyman's Y-DNA. Every direct patrilineal descendant will have the same.

The only ways this cannot be the case, is if the genealogical research is not sound, or that somewhere along the line there was what is euphemistically termed a 'non-paternity' event - i.e. there was a secret/unrecorded adoption, or a wife along the way had sex with another man whether he was her lover, a one-night encounter, or her rapist.

So, if there are more tests, there are three possible scenarios if you are different to the rest or one of the others is,i.e.:
a) the genealogy is not sound and needs to be redone, or
b) there was secret/unrecorded adoption, or
c) a wife along the way had sex with someone other than her known husband or partner

What I have observed thus far, is that the DNA results overwhelmingly mirror the genealogy in sound genealogies.

That said, more tests from direct patrilineal descendants of Christoffel Snijman are to be welcomed.

As to your second question ... Christoffel's baptism to the enslaved Groote Catrijn is evidence he was born in bondage. I am amending his record accordingly.

All, I am trying to write an article and also prepare the project for updating to also include my new article plus two other articles by Mansell Upham ... so won't be coming to Geni until all of that is done. If you need to contact me urgently, please email to van.de.caep@gmail.com. Thanks.

Good morning Kornelius Snyman,
Your Scandinavian connection is quite interesting. I fully subscribe to Delia Robertson's explanation, and we don't even have to go far back in history before Van Riebeeck's arrival at the Cape to find a good example - the Thirty Years War and extensive Swedish participation. (There are many earlier examples too.)
The rape and pillage that might have gone with the estimated destruction of a third of all German villages and the reduction of the German male population by a half, might have had far-reaching genealogical implications...

Thank you Delia Robertson and Johann Ahlers.

My question "Christoffel Snyman - Was he actually ever a slave?" has been answered satisfactorily: He was born in bondage and his manumission appears to have been de facto along with that of his mother.
As this happened when he was 2 years old, he grew up and lived as a free person. This also confirms that he was never a slave of occupation.

Thank you Delia for your response.

According to Mansell Upham, Groote Catrijn was the inferred biological mother of Christoffel Snyman, which is not stated or documented in the baptismal record of 9 March 1669, there remains sufficient & reasonable doubt as to whether the baby named Christoffel was in fact Christoffel Snyman as the surname Snyman is not noted anywhere in the baptismal record. If this record refers to a Snyman it remains circumstantial and should be noted in the records as an inference with the necessary reference of the 'other evidence for consideration' alongside it.

Groote Catrijn was banished to the Cape in 1657 as a 'bandiet', not a slave. From what I understand to be the truth, this is documented. Her primary status at the Cape was as a 'convict'.

The fact that Groote Catrijn was freely pardoned in an official letter dated 6th January 1672 is proof that she indeed was a convicted criminal and that her life sentence was significantly reduced. This is also documented.

Now, if she was a company slave then she would have been manumitted following her baptism on the 29th of April 1668. This may well have happened, however, the decision to release her and freely pardon her was pending as her criminal record had to be reviewed.

The Dutch Reformed Church at the Cape pronounced that converts could not be held in bondage. Therefore, it stands to reason that Catrijn was not a slave following her baptism in 1668. She however remained a convicted criminal serving a life sentence until she was freely pardoned in Jan. 1672.

Private User Groote Catrijn is the recorded mother of the child baptised Christoffel in 1669.

She was a slave in Batavia, and when convicted was not emancipated. She then ALSO became a convict.

Once convicted she became the property and a convict of the VOC.

Not all company, nor indeed privately owned, slaves were immediately freed on baptism. At baptism, they became they became eligible for freedom under varying circumstances. Apart from anything else, the record is littered with slaves (company and private) who were baptised.

And hot off the pressess...
Mansell Upham has updated and added to his biography on Groote Catrijn van Paliacatta and her family including her son Christoffel Snijman which originally featured in Capensis (1997). This update now includes her daughter-in-law Marguerite-Thérèse de Savoye and her slave Maria van Bengale.
http://e-family.co.za/ffy/ui117.htm

Also of interest:
'Viking' blood at the Cape - DNA evidence confirms European paternity of Christoffel Snijman van der Caep and debunks theory he was the biological son of Anthonij Jansz van Bengale
http://e-family.co.za/ffy/ui114.htm

The following quote from Mansel Upham's very interesting latest document is relevant to this discussion:

"Her son [Christoffel Snyman] is prematurely freed from slavery at the age of 2 years. Effectively, he is exempted from the usual legal requirement that half-caste male slaves belonging to the Company are to be freed on obtaining legal majority at the age of 25 years."

Also:

"Curiously, Christoffel Snijman" remains the only example at the Cape, of a slave-born mesties or halfslagh ... man, ... , who enters into a legal union with a Europe-born woman."

It certainly seems that Christoffel Snyman was a special case in many respects.

Thanks again Delia for all your hard work.
Judi