Some of the original history of the area

Daniel Hugot was a Hugenot refugee who was residing in the Cape in 1688. He was the son of Jacques Hugot and Jeanne Barbier from the region, Chalons-sur Marne, Champagne, France born in May 1664.

He was a blacksmith by trade and was given a piece of land, approx 51,4 ha in Simondium where he did blacksmith work and started farming. He named his farm Sion and married Anne Rousseau, daughter of Pierre Rousseau and Anne Retief in December 1704 or early January 1705.

They lived on the farm L’arc de Orleans close to Sion. Daniel Hugot died in 1725 and his wife remarried in November 1725 to Jean Blignault. She died in 1753 on the farm Bethel, Paarl and Blignault died later the same year.

Daniel (Hugot) was christened by Dominee Beck at Drakenstein 18 October 1705 and died young. Jacques (Hugot) was born at Sion in 1708 and was a farmer in Concordia in the Koo and the Breede Valley in the current district of Worcester. He married Rachel de Villiers, daughter of Jacob de Villiers and Margaretha Gardiol. Jacques died in June or July 1745 in Breede Rivier where he is also buried. His wife married Hendrik Francois Moller. Rachel died 30 October 1762.

Anna Margaretha born in the Karoo married Paul Roux at Drakenstein from the farm De Drie Fonteinen, near Wellington. They are the ancestors / forefathers of the Roux’s of Stellenbosch. Jacobus (Hugot) was born in the Koo in 1733 and married Anna Rousseau, daughter of Pierre Rousseau and Maria Retif of De Doornen, Hexrivier.

Pierre Rousseau, born 1703 was a younger brother of the ancestral mother Anne Rousseau and Maria Retif, born 1702, was an older sister of Anna Retief, the wife of Pierre (Hugot) of Buffelskraal, de Doorns.

Jacobus was a farmer on the loan farm De Breede Rivier and the nearby owner farm De Liefde in the Land van Waveren and the farm Slanghoek. He died at De Liefde and is apparently buried there too.

Rachel. Born 1757 married Charl Marais, a farmer from Romansrivier, Tulbagh. (13 Children)

Maria Margaretha born 1758, died 1773 – unmarried.

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Dr Louis Leipoldt, tells in his book “SA Pronkwyne” that his uncle Louis Esselen once in Germany, gave crown prince Frederik, (the later Keiser von Pruise) a taste of Koos Mosterdpotjie’s wine.

Another uncle of his, Johannes Esselen gave a few bottles of Koos Mosterdpotjie’s wine to Bismarck. They enjoyed the wine so much, that they regularly ordered wine from Wilgevlei. Dr Hahn, of Cape Town, a wine connoisseur won a bronze medal for Koos Mosterdpotjie’s wine at an international wine award in Paris.

To our knowledge, this is the first international award a South African wine has achieved and Koos Mosterdpotjie can be seen as quite a leader in the field. He was also a field coronet and one of his duties was to pay the workers working on the Bainskloofpas their weekly wages.

Petrus Francois Hugo (1768 – 1824)

P F Hugo and his wife M J Theron lived on the farm De Liefde in die land van Waveren and raised a family of 12 children. Viewed as a rather important local man, he was also a field coronet.

In 1803, Kommissaris-Generaal de Mist and his men, travelled through the colony and overnighted with field coronet Hugo at De Liefde. Reports say that they were received with love and warmth. Travelling back to Cape Town March 1804, they overnighted at Wouter de Vos’ farm, Buffelskraal in De Doorns. They returned to De Liefde shortly afterwards. Shortly afterwards, they overnighted with J Hugo on the farm Groenedal near the Groenberg.

In 1805, the Veeteeld Commission made an extensive reconnaissance journey through the colony. On September 28, the stopped at P F Hugo for fresh oxen. They described the farm as a very good sewing/planting and wine farm. The second evening, they stopped at Wouter de Vos’ farm, Buffelskraal, De Doorns. Described as a good oak farm, but not suitable for livestock. It was said that in the Hexrivier, there’s a “poison plant” (also locally called ‘pisgoed’) that is deadly for oxen, but had no effect on “dry/milkless” cows.

Apparently, Wouter de Vos kept a large herd of “dry”cows. Karbonaadjieskraal was evidently plagued with this poisonous plant and that is the reason why Jacques and Daniel, sons of the ancestral father Hugot, chose to farm in the Koo and not thus be further away from the Hexrivier Valley where the poison plant grew abundantly.

Magriet Theron kept a journal in which she recorded anything of noteworthy interest. In the years 1809 – 1811, she mentioned earthquakes which occurred on the same fault that would later cause the major Tulbagh and Ceres earthquake of 1969. It is after one of these earthquakes that the Goudini spa sprang to life; however, after the youngest earthquake, a freshwater fountain at Karbonaadjieskraal disappeared.

Gabriel Francois Hugo and Martha Johanna Conradie are the ancestral parents of the Hexrivierbergse (Karbonaadjieskraal’s) Hugos. It is not known precisely when they arrived at the farm, but it is certain that they came from the farm Buffelskraal in De Doorns by ox wagon.

Karbonaadjieskraal was a well known place for travelers to stop on their journey inland – here they could rest and the oxen could graze. The name “karbonaadjies” can be best translated / described as a wholesome lunch pack that the hungry travelers could braai when they stopped here. Pierre received grazing rights for the farm Buffelskraal and at almost the same time, his brother Jacques received grazing rights in the Koo. Therefore one can assume that the Karbonaadjieskraal farm wasn’t completely unfamiliar to the Hugo family. Pierre died in 1752 and his mother in law, Francois Retif (Marie Mouy) lost grazing rights to Floris Smit temporarily until the rights were returned to the Retif family – this time in the hands of Tieleman Roos who was married to the youngest sister of Anne Retief. From then onwards, the grazing rights swung between Teleman Roos and Jacobus Hugo of Buffelskraal who was married to Catharina Magdalena Hoppe.

After Jacobus’ death in 1769, Wouter de Vos married C M Hoppe in 1771 and received the grazing rights. Apparently he sold the farm Buffelskraal shortly afterwards to P Meiring. Afterwards, Wouter de Vos’ son, Petrus Jacobus de Vos inherited the farm Karbonaadjieskraal. In 1840 he sold the farm to Gabriel Francois Hugo. It is not sure where G F Hugo and M J Conradie lived before they moved to Karbonaadjieskraal, but at this time, they already had three daughters. It is also still not known where exactly they lived after arriving here, but remnants of foundations believed to be their first dwelling, can still be found on the farm Before building the big / main house. The inscription “G.F.H. 1873” is visible on the gable. Obviously the house was built before it was sold to P J de Vos and we assume that they lived in that building.

The walls of the house are 45.72 cm thick and of clay brick. Wooden beams are from poplar trees found locally here on the farm and planed into square shape. Naturally, the roof is thatched.

Martha Johanna Hugo (third daughter of Hugo and Conradie) married Hendrik Schalk Gerber from the farm Jan de Boer. She was known to be quite a capable, dynamic and religious woman. When the British troops waged war from 1899 – 1902, confiscated livestock and placed the men under parole or in jail, apparently she made it abundantly clear to the Commanding British Officer that if they gave her any trouble., she would pray for punishment for them – the British. Legend has it that this threat was enough to keep the British from causing any problems for her and they left her alone – bearing in mind, all this time, that she was already a widow.

The three surviving sons of G F Hugo and M J Conradie (Francois Daniel Hugo, Pieter Francois Hugo and Gabriel Francois Hugo) became the ancestral fathers of the three Hexrivierbergse Hugo family tree branches.

Pieter Francois Jacobus Hugo (Piet Rebel – 1873 – 1959)

He lived with his parents at Karbonaadjieskraal during the second freedom war and enlisted with the Boeremagte 23 September 1901. Thereby, he became a “Cape Rebel” and was proud to be able to do something to help his fellow countrymen. Rather than being ashamed of the name “Rebel” he felt proud – wanting to be of help to his countrymen other side of the Great River as he felt it was grossly unfair of the rest of Europe not to help them in a time of need against a power as great as the British Kingdom. Another reason why he joined the Boerekommando was because of the shame and embarrassment suffered by himself (and his people) at the hands of the British in the Cape Colony.

When there were rumours that a Boerekommando was being formed, forty men from the Worcester “Town Guard” arrived at the farm, and on seeing P F J Hugo, commanded him to “stand or we shoot” – and that coming from people he know by their firstnames! Wherever he went, he had to be accompanied by two armed men.

Apparently, he had already told them at this time, that this was all in vain, as there was going to be a Boeremagte uprising and that he would be going with them. Shortly after this, there were again rumours of an uprising and the forty men fled back to Worcester immediately. At least they gave him leave to go to the nearest shop in De Doorns to buy sugar and coffee. He had to go on foot because all the animals used for transport / pulling wagons had been commandeered. At this time, his father had to ride to the station in a small cart drawn by a bull and a cow.

Piet had three conditions to fulfill before joining the Boeremagte – that the commando must come to the farm, that there be a well-known person in the commando and that he get the opportunity to say good bye to his parents before he leaves. Apparently, all three conditions were met.

Monday morning, 23 September at 01:00, Commandant Jan Theron, nephew of the famous Danie Theron of the TVK arrived with eighty men at the farm. Wouter (“Wollie”) de Vos, previously of the neighbouring farm Stinkfontein and a good friend of Piet Rebel arrived with twenty men under him to join them. (“Wollie” was now, however, a “Transvaalse” burger / citizen). Piet then showed the men the road out and after many warnings from his parents, he still decided to go with the men. He left with the equivalent of R10, a pair of old trousers, a jacket, a blanket and a small Bible.

From Karbonaadjieskraal, the commando moved through the Bokveld in the direction of Calvinia. The only way to do this was to travel between the farms Grootstraat and Elim, but the entrance had been blocked by the British, using a cannon. There would have to be another way around this. The neighbouring farm to Karbonaadjieskraal, Kaaimansgat lay in the Bokveld – there was literally a footpath, very steep in places, but could be navigated by a man on a horse. It was on this path that Piet Rebel led the commando down the mountain to Kaaimansgat. When the English heard about this, they blew the path apart with dynamite. Later, this damage was repaired by Piet and his father. That morning they arrived at a neighbouring farm to Kaaimansgat, Windheuwel where they found four British soldiers. The soldiers were disarmed and Piet managed to get a gun and some ammunition. Taking the four British soldiers with them, they headed to Ceres and on to Calvinia. That evening there was a fierce battle. They managed to capture thirty British soldiers, disarmed them and let them go. The next day, they captured the Ceres “Town Guard” and acquired a wagon, mules, horses, guns, ammunition and stores. The Boeremag then managed to commandeer the towns of Calvinia, Nieuwoudtville, Vanrhynsdorp, Clanwilliam, Piketberg, Porterville, Riebeek-west, Darling and Malmesbury, with frequent skirmishes with the British. As they progressed further and further, they managed to recruit more rebels until their commando was about two hundred men strong. This is when they formed two commandos – one under Jan Theron, and one under Wollie de Vos.

Dr T W Wessels and two other Boeremag prisoners managed to escape from a train at Matroosberg station, and with the help of allies, managed to meet up with Cmdt Theron and De Vos’ commandos. On the 25 February, after a long battle with enemy forces, in Windhoek, Clanwilliam, they lost four men – one of them being Dr T W Wessels. It is evident they had been betrayed by a certain traitor, Colyn. Later, Colyn was captured, arrested and sentenced to death.

He died in front of a firing squad. The saddest day in Piet Rebel’s memory was when Wollie de Vos was shot dead by a coloured gang member, aided by fellow Afrikaners in Calvinia. Apparently, Wollie was unarmed and fist fought for his life before being shot. As soon as possible afterwards, the allies removed and hid his body from the enemies. Piet Rebel ensured that Wollie was buried and that his family was informed of his death – Wollie’s father being Dirk de Vos of the farm Stinkfontein.

After peace negotiations, the commandos came together on the farm Soetwater in the Calvinia district to meet with General Smuts. He arrived one Saturday evening with news of their defeat and that peace had been established. Naturally, they had many questions for him, but he refused to answer them, saying it is his right to give orders and for them to obey..

General Manie Maritz refused to surrender, and that night, along with twenty followers, disappeared in the direction of Duitswes. After that, the place was renamed Bitterwater. The following Monday, their weapons had to be handed over to the enemy. This was done and they were placed in a barbed wire prison camp in Clanwilliam.. The rebels’ cases were heard in the order of the districts from which they came. Worcester was the last on the list. Piet Rebel’s sentence was to lose his right to vote for three years. Forty rebels were taken to Porterville station where they were loaded into railway cars and sent home. With the help of a Transvaler, Piet Rebel managed to acquire a horse and saddle and managed to get safely to his parents home. He was now a very poor man – all his buck, horses, mules, etc – to the value of approximately R1600 had been confiscated.