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Later he was an apprentice to a certain De Vos in Worcester in the wagon making industry, but in his heart he yearned for a more adventurous life.
Adventures
At the age of nineteen he moved to the north with other families on their way to the hunting-fields. A full Vaal River brought their trek to a standstill, but the resourceful young Greeff quickly compiled a working team and started constructing the first ferry over the Vaal River, close to where Bloemhof is situated today. After more than a year, the ferry was completed, but business was good as many hunting parties and other trekkers made use of his services.
This ferry life soon bored him and he sold his "business" for £500, a fortune at that stage. He bought a wagon and oxen and decided to dare to undertake his own hunting expedition on the other side of the Vaal River.
The interior however, was untamed and full of surprises and after encounters with hostile tribes in the hunting-fields, he lost all his possessions and returned to the Cape Colony with only his horse, his servant and £50 in his purse.
On his way back to his family in Tulbagh and Durbanville, he stayed over in Hopetown where he met and married Susanna Maria Redelinghuys in 1855. Their firstborn (the first of fourteen children!), Jacoba Elizabeth, nicknamed Nonnie, was born in Tulbagh. Later Nonnie would become the wife of the famous Boer General and "Lion of the West-Transvaal", Koos de la Rey.
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Sannie and Hendrik Greeff with 5 of their children, 1875 |
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Doornfontein, 4 678 morgen in size, was a choice farm with strong fountains and a beautiful marshland that separated it from the other neighbouring farm, Kaalplaats. Here was enough and proper trees for firewood, and also excellent agricultural land and grazing-land.
More and more farms in the area got "bywoners" (sub-farmers), like the families of Abram Swanepoel, Abram de Villiers, Karel Weyer, Hans de Beer, the Van den Berghs, Krugers, Ludicks, Oosthuizens, Redelinghuyse, Pretorius', Steinmans, Sneyders' and Viljoens.
Greeff used this farm as his base, farmed in summer and hunted in winter. During the hunting expeditions, his wife Sannie collected ostrich feathers. When he came home, she washed, plumed and sold the feathers. With the money she collected in this manner, she bought the adjoining farm Kaalplaats.
Answer to prayer
On his way back home from the direction of Marico after a hunting expedition in 1862, they got lost. It was a very dry year and their water ran short. Greeff did not yet know the area well and couldn't find water. The children, four of them at that stage, started crying about the thirst they did not understand. Greeff halted and walked into the veld in the hope of finding a pan or something. He saw a number of trees in a dale and decided to go on his knees and ask the Higher Hand for relief. In his prayer Greeff promised that if he found water, he would return on his fiftieth birthday to the same place to express his gratitude. He then heard a voice: "Look in that tree. There is water", but he thought he was hallucinating and wanted to move on. Again he heard the voice: "Look in that tree. There is water".
He looked at the trees in the dale and saw a large Camdeboo (white stinkwood) between the others and went closer. Breast-high the trunk forked and amazingly, there was delicious, cool water in the hollow that formed - enough for their immediate need. His prayer was answered.
Sixteen years later Greeff and his whole family returned to this place for a Thanksgiving service, a tradition that is still preserved today. Many of Greeff's descendants still assemble here on their fiftieth birthdays to have a Thanksgiving service. At this place, approximately 10km north of Lichtenburg on the Manana Road, the Greeff Monument was erected.
After this experience Greeff concentrated more on farming and hunted less.
We want a Town
Potchefstroom was the closest trading centre and approximately 150 km or "14 uur rijdens te paarde" away. A need for a town with a church and shops became stronger and Greeff and the Boers in the area saw Doornfontein with its abundant water, firewood and building material as the designated place.
Erven was surveyed and an irrigation ditch from the fountain for "natte erven" was laid on and the first new settlers moved in. In 1865 the first application for town establishment was addressed to the House of Assembly, signed by 132 males in the area, and they started compiling a number of town regulations. Greeff wanted to name the town Lichtenburg, a name that he carried from his birth and because he wanted it to be a town whose light would shine over the area, not just with regard to hospitality and prosperity, but also in respect of religion.
In 1868 the name "Lichtenberg", (a mistake still commonly made) appeared on the official map of the SAR, but the House of Assembly did not react yet. The men met again to discuss the town regulations and to obtain an appeal on speedy proclamation from the House of Assembly. The well-known Voortrekker savant, JG Bantjes, also established himself in Lichtenburg and signed the regulation as witness.
Eventually proclamation
Eventually Lichtenburg was officially proclaimed as town in mid-winter on 25 July 1873 by Pres. TF Burgers.
Since then many interesting events took place, such as Greeff's son-in-law, Jacobus Herculaas de la Rey who established himself here, the Anglo Boer War, the Rebellion, the incredible rich diamond diggings which had the world market close to a collapse, the success on agricultural area, the burning marshlands...Everything contributed to realise the dreams and ideals of Commandant Hendrik Adriaan Greeff (1828 - 1884) for Lichtenburg to still be a beautiful, growing town with its light shining over this area - really the pride of Northwest.
Come taste our water... and you will never forget.
Source: Lichtenburg 1865 - 1985 AD Bosman