Carel Aaron van der Merwe

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Naomi Keyter
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Naomi Keyter
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HESJE's GHOST of DOUWENIS.
BY: Naomi Keyter
A Lot is to be learned from the Memoirs of Prominent people in the 19th century, like the Memoirs of Napier Devitt (Harold Napier Devitt). Devitt studied law and worked as an articled clerk with Johannesburg lawyer HS Caldecott. In 1907, he passed the Civil Service Law test and became a magistrate. He went on to work for South Africa for a quarter-century in various sections of the former Transvaal, including Belfast and Klerksdorp.
The farm DOUWENIS was home to the van der Merwe family. Carel Aaron and Hester Jacoba (Hesje) with their two-year-old infant. The van der Merwes were a well-known family in the Clanwilliam area. Back then farming was central to family life. Every three months, the family will travel 100 miles to church for communion. They would return to the massive farmhouse after communion, and despite her weight, Hesje could labour hard and keep her nose to the grindstone. In 1837, the most major issue they encountered was hordes of trekbokken (nomadic springbok), which demolished everything in their way just because more and more Humans had entered their domain.
The boks were in such an abundance that hunting them became like a sport. Andries Stockenström mentioned in 1808 “immediately upon leaving the village (Graaff-Reinet), we entered into flocks of countless springbucks”. During migration these flocks could reach about 15 000. On the morning of the 18 October 1837, Aaron wanted to go hunting and called some of the staff that was made ready for this hunting since the previous day.
After that, one of the maids was instructed to summon Hesje; however, she was unsuccessful in rousing Hesje and immediately informed Aaron. There was no longer any sign of life for Aaron's wife.
When Aaron received the news, he uttered a shocked and heartbroken sound. After giving her a kiss, Aaron burst into tears once more. When the staff informed the neighbours, the ladies arrived to provide care for Hesje and to prepare for her funeral. Aaron sent a number of letters, one of which was addressed to his cousin van der Merwe, who serves as the veldcornet for the region.
After a week had passed, the notice was delivered to Van der Merwe, and he immediately brought the report to the Magistrate the same night. Something in the report kept Mr. van Ryneveld up that night, making it impossible for him to get any rest. But the next day, he discovered that he was thinking about the news on occasion. However, by the afternoon, he had made the decision to shake off the negative thoughts and let it go.
But the Ghost of Hesje had other plans in mind. During the course of that night, van Rhyneveld found himself waking up with the silhouette of a woman standing at his feet. He was unfamiliar with Hesje, but he instinctively recognized her due to the fact that she was overweight and was wearing a scarf over her head.
She started off with a tone of voice that was very close to a whisper. She inched her way closer as she said, "Landrost, doen my reg!" (Let justice be done to me.) van Ryneveld dismissed it the following day, attributing it to weariness instead of taking it seriously. However, the following evening, she returned now shouting "DOEN MY REG." “DOEN MY REG LANDROST!” before disappearing again.
The next day, Mr. van Ryneveld paid his good friend and justice of the peace, Mr. van Rhyn of Troe, a visit, and discussed the events that had transpired over the previous two months. He later stated that he and Mr. van Rhyn of Troe "laughed and cried" when debating the issue, but in the end, they came to the conclusion that it was something that should be looked into.
The records state that the exhumers were confronted with a horrible smell when they opened the grave. It was determined that Hesje did not have any infectious infections, but she did suffer neck and windpipe damage, which suggests that she was maybe strangled. During the course of the trial, Dr Ahrens testified, and it was revealed that two persons had been slain; Hesje was approximately three quarters of the way through her pregnancy at the time. According to Drs. Bailey and Ahrens's descriptions, the behaviour was aggressive. By kneeling on the victim's stomach, the attacker was able to smother the mother and bring about the prolapse of the uterus, killing the unborn. Mr van der Merwe was arrested.
Van der Merwe was found to be responsible for the crimes. He maintained his innocence after being convicted of murder and sentenced for execution on May 31. But in the end, as his remaining time on earth shrank, he broke his silence. On May 31st 1837, he was put to death by hanging.

on FamilySearch:

Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/LZ8C-1DV