"Free state pioneer and founder member of Winburg. Member of the Volksraad.
Emigrated to SA in the early forties and settled in Winburg in 1844 where he spent the rest of his life. At that stage this small settlement, together with Potchefstroom, formed part of the group of united Voortrekkers (verenigde "maatschappij") under the aegis of the Natal Volksraad. He opened one of the first general stores (negotie winkels) in the Free State and since he was a man of some education, who had seen something of the world, he was a considerable help to the Boer emigrants in administrative and legislative matters. Thus he acted as secretary to the landdros, Willem Jacobs, and gradually identified himself with the fortunes, good or bad, of the Free Staters. FP openly supported the Boer's resistance to the British annexation of the territory in 1848. When Sir Harry Smith arrived at Winburg after the battle of Boomplaats (29.8.1848), FP was accused by his enemies, mainly rival merchants, of violent anti- British sympathies and actions as well as of supporting Andries Pretorius. He appeared with a "riem" (halter) around his neck in front of Smith who, in uncontrolled rage, nearly had him hanged.' (Hans van Rensburg, leader of the Ossewa Brandwag, tells the story that it was the impassioned pleas of the beautiful "Frau" Schnehage that made him change his mind. - See full extract at the end of this document) 'FP was fined two hundred pounds instead. It was the reaction of his supporters in particular, who rejoiced at his pardon that enabled his wife to raise the money quickly. The treatment he received from the Cape Governor evidently prompted two inhabitants of Winburg, P.A. and W. Venter, to provide him with the necessary capital to expand his business into a flourishing concern. In due course he became a wealthy man and owner of several farms in the district. He proved a staunch supporter of independence for the OFS and was one of those who signed the Bloemfontein Convention (23.2.1854)' (His signature can be viewed in the War Museum in Johannesburg -Peter) 'He served as a member of the Volksraad for nearly twenty years: from 1856 to 1864 for the town of Winburg and from 1867 to 1878 for the Winburg district, Midden Sandrivier. He was on important committees, among others that which concluded the peace treaty with the Transvaal Republic on 1.6.1857. He pressed for closer affiliation with the Cape Colony, being convinced that the OFS was surrounded by enemies and that it had been weakened since many burghers had gone over to the Transvaal Republic. FP did everything in his power to get J.H. Brand elected as State President, and once Brand had assumed office a strong friendship developed between them. In 1869 FP acted as temporary chairman of the Volksraad and during Brand's illness (October 1872) was appointed one of the three special commissioners to govern with all the powers and privileges of the State President. The other commissioners were W. Collins and G. J. du Toit. FP grew to be recognized as a leading personality in Winburg and vicinity. In 1854 and again in 1861 he acted temporarily as landdros. When Winburg received a town council in August 1861, he and J.D. Cilliers were elected the first committee members. During the Second Basuto War (1865 - 1866) as well as the Third Basuto War (1867 - 1868) FP was appointed field-cornet, his function being to arrange protection of the town against attacks. He was also Justice of the Peace; a member of the committee for issuing liquor licences, and was on the school committee for many years. A pioneer who lived through the ups and downs of the Free State during almost all its evolutionary political phases of the nineteenth century, FP was known and respected throughout the state towards the end of his life. He was not only a tireless advocate of an independent Orange Free State, but with his enlightened ideas made a special contribution to its political and economical development in general and that of Winburg and vicinity in particular. He promoted a feeling of unity in the Free State through his understanding of the English speaking section, with whom he was very popular. He was also particularly known for his total rejection of dishonesty. Neat in appearance, his beard and hair were thick and his features strong." (Extract from South African Bibliographical Dictionary, Vol. 5)

SCHNEHAGE FARMS:
"Gedara" no 403 and "Blesbokfontein" no 34, together 4973 morgen, 338 square roods, between Winburg and Senekal. These two farms were bequeathed to FP's children subject to a fideicommissum trust in which the farms were entailed to pass on to the next generations of heirs. Johnny (b5c5) administered these two farms from 1929 until his death. The farms were divided into 7 parts and leased out to tenants. The trust became impractical because of the increasing number of heirs, and in 1963 Quintin (b5c5d5) brought an application before the High Court in Bloemfontein to have the trust terminated. Granted 11.8.1966 (Farms were sold for R149 000 - Peter)
"Rietvlei" which is still in the Gibson family (b3c4d3e3f2), now incorporated in "Demilander" ("Gedara" and "Blesbokfontein" also adjoin "Demilander.")
"Wormwood" - Gibson c4,d1,d3e2 then sold to Coetzee. "Uncle's Gift"- Gibson c5
"Summerville" - 8000 morgen in the Hertzogville district. (In Caleb's time it became a game farm / reserve, open to the public. In 1964 it was expropriated by OFS provincial government. Family lost the court case. - Peter)
"Mooifontein", (also called Kalkfontein, situated on the Vetriver; the farm house was burnt down during the ABW) and "Called Back" (These two farms went to William b5c3) "Gooi de Hoed" belonging to FP's widow during the ABW when the farmhouse was partly burnt, livestock seized and the black overseer Stephen Kgabale and his family taken to the Doornrivier Camp; (TAB CJC 714.827)
"Zeekoegat"; 2262 morgen 264 square roods - Caleb ( and Deelkop"?)
"Zeekoegat" was bequeathed to Johnny in Caleb's will, but sold at auction after Caleb's death on 19.10.1935 (??) (I had contact with a Nico Vermaak whose grandfather bought Zeekoegat from Johnny in the late 30's. Apparently Johnny made him a loan to be able to do this. He wonders whether the farm was not divided in two, because the Zeekoegat he knew was about 1000 morgen. Mr. Vermaak sold the farm in the fifties. In the nineties the farm belonged to De Klerks, and is currently in the possession of Martin and Annatjie Van Heerden, according to the name plate)
Nathaniel owned "Doornpoort"( and "Grootkuil" according to TAB CJC 714.827)

"We were all sent away very young to first class boarding schools, the girls to Cape Town where we remained until grown up. Three of my brothers were sent to Europe" - Lydia letter to Bertha Gibson VAB HG 4/2/1/1/651. 390/1942

Extract: "Their Paths Crossed Mine" by Hans van Rensburg. Published by CNA Ltd. SA; 1956 pto
"The Great Trek had started and Lang Hans, a young man of 26, was one of those seeking a new country. About 1845 he settled in the village of Winburg, the first Voortrekker town in the Orange Free State, and built the house where, somewhat altered and enlarged, I spent my childhood.
Lang Hans, the Voortrekker, was my great-grandfather.
For some time Winburg was the capital and focal point of the newly established fatherland and for that reason a good bit of Free State history occurred in its vicinity. Some of these incidents have been noted in history; others have not.
Among those things which have escaped notice and which I regard as of sufficient human interest to deserve mention was the day when the British representative, the dashing Sir Harry Smith, wanted to hang Herr Schnehage in the Church Square - hang him in public and as an awful example. It was in the aftermath of the first Boer rebellion, led by Andries Pretorius and broken by Sir Harry at Boomplaats in the southern Free State. Some of the old inhabitants, whom I had known in my childhood, were eyewitnesses and one of them, my maternal grandmother, told me of what she saw - much to my boyhood appreciation for the dramatic.
The Free State Boers had not left all they had laboriously built up in the Cape Colony in order to be reannexed by the British. Very naturally they resisted. Andries Pretorius, breaker of the Zulu power of Dingaan at Blood River, led the "rebels" and did his best to achieve a second victory. Sir Harry Smith defeated the Boers at Boomplaats and Andries Pretorius became an outlaw, with two thousand English pounds on his head. Sir Harry moved further northward and eventually entered Winburg. He was anything but benevolent in his humour. As he himself had been wounded at Boomplaats, this ire was understandable. He felt that these mutinous Boers against Her Majesty needed a sharp lesson; sharp and in Her Majesty's interests. That Her Majesty's interests and the smarting of his wound happened to coincide was - coincidence.
Only one thing averted a miserable tragedy in that Winburg Church Square - the extraordinary beauty of a woman!
It is a far cry from Badajoz in Spain to that square in Winburg; and yet Sir Harry heard it, or heard its echo. Neither distance nor passage of time had dimmed his appreciation of feminine charm. Be the enemy Napoleon Bonaparte or Andries Pretorius, a beautiful woman remains a beautiful woman. Sir Harry's biographers tell that after the bloody battle of Badajoz the young English officer saw Fair Helen in a Spanish girl, Juana, and that, before he left the Peninsula, she had become his wife. Two towns in our Fatherland bear the senora's name. However, we are dealing not so much with history as with Sir Harry's roving eye for beauty. This is where Frau Schnehage steps into Winburg's history.
When Sir Harry entered the town with his troops he was determined to find a scapegoat; by hook, if possible, by crook if necessary. This scapegoat, whoever he might be, must dangle from the gallows as a warning to all and sundry.
There was a much respected shopkeeper in town, a German by the name of Schnehage. Apart from having a flourishing business he also had an extremely fair wife. Beauty was not her only quality, for she must obviously have been endowed with courage and initiative. In search for the gallows-bird-to-be Sir Harry landed on this unfortunate Teuton and swore that the gunpowder and bullets which had tried his men so sorely at Boomplaats had been furnished to the Boers by this selfsame Schnehage; which may or may not have been true, Schnehage being a general dealer.
In any event, Sir Harry was set upon making a fearful example and summarily ordered Schnehage to be hanged from a convenient tree in the Church Square, and that the townspeople should be drummed together to watch this bloody business. Redcoats led the poor man to the tree and nobody in Winburg seemed able to avert the imminent execution. That is to say, nobody but one - his comely wife.
Frau Schnehage broke through the guards and threw herself at Sir Harry's feet, pleading for her husband's life.
The old gallant of Badajoz gazed upon the beautiful suppliant. He realised there and then that the quality of mercy is not strained; it would be a monstrous pity if so attractive a woman should be left widowed and unprotected. Herr Schnehage, who had already commended his soul to God, was unbound and set at liberty.
No hanging occurred in Winburg on that day.

The son of this fair angel of salvation, Dr. Caleb Schnehage, later became a well-known medico in the Free State and, in his old age, saw me through several childish complaints, including a fractured leg."

"We were all sent away very young to first class boarding schools, the girls to Cape Town where we remained until grown up. Three of my brothers were sent to Europe" - Lydia letter to Bertha Gibson VAB HG 4/2/1/1/651. 390/1942

Acknowledgements: To the family research done by Johnny Schnehage in respect to the unwinding of the Trust as well as to all contributing family rembers as well as:

John Boje on SAGenforum bojej@stalbanscollege.com
(John is working on a book about Winburg during the ABW.)
His sources: Familia 22:1 p. 24
Free State Archives (A119.1190) - Schnehage family
CJC 714.828 (Nathaniel)
National Archives Pretoria CJC 693.196 (Caleb)
Transvaal Archives CJC 705.504 (Gibson)
Neville Schnehage ( b5c7d3) Bloemfontein 051 436 5133
Peter Schnehage (b5c5d1e2) Krugersdorp 072 253 7275
Alf Schnehage (b5c5d2e1) Cape Town 021 691 6485
Magdaleen Gibson (x b3c4d3e3) Marquard 051 991 0362
Acknowledgements: To the family research done by Johnny Gibson in respect to the unwinding of the Trust as well as to all contributing family rembers as well as: