Christiaan Michiel Elardus Erasmus

Michiel Christiaan Elardus Erasmus was born on the 12th of September 1849 and he inherited the southern half of the farm Rietvlej when his father Daniël Elardus Erasmus died in 1875. Michiel was married to Anna Susanna Opperman and they lived on the southern half of the farm Rietvlej with their eight children.

Michiel died a wealthy man on the 8th of June 1895, aged only 46. His eldest son, Daniël Elardus, born 14 August 1870, inherited his father’s portion of the farm Doornkloof and also his half of the farm Rietvlej. In the Michiel Christiaan Elardus Erasmus Estate document listing his fixed assets, the farm is referred to as “Rietvlej”, as in the original registration permit by the Rustenburg “Landdrost Kommissie”. This document reflects that Michiel owned nine farms and one stand in Pretoria at the time of his death. After his death his wife Anna Susanna married Marcus Albertus Smit. They moved to the town Springs, where she died and was buried in 1938.

Michiel Christiaan Elardus Erasmus was the third owner of the farm Rietvlej. He is buried in the Erasmus family graveyard near the Marais dam on Rietvlei Nature Reserve.

Michiel was born on 11 Sept 1849 on the farm Doornkloof, owned by his father, Daniël “Doornkloof” Erasmus. He was the grandson of a Voortrekker by the name of Daniël Jacobus “Swartkoppies” Erasmus who settled on the farm Zwartkop in the present day Centurion area. His grandfather arrived in this area with his large family in 1836 with the Andries Hendrik Potgieter Trek.

When Danie “Doornkloof” Erasmus died in 1875 on his farm Doornkloof, his three sons inherited the farm Doornkloof. Michiel Christiaan Elardus and his younger brother, Stephanus Petrus, also inherited half of the farm Rietvlej. Michiel married Anna Susanna Opperman in 1869. They lived on the farm Doornkloof for a few years, before moving to his half of the farm Rietvlej.

Michiel and Anna raised eight children on Rietvlej. He died on the 8th of June 1895, aged only 46. He was buried on Rietvlej in the family graveyard near the family homestead. After Michiel’s death, his eldest son, Daniël Elardus, inherited half of Rietvlej and also the one third portion of Doornkloof that his father owned.

Ref: RIETVLEI NATURE RESERVE - A Historic Summary by Deon Storm