Martinus Theunis Steyn
| Martinus Theunis Steyn | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 6th State President of the Orange Free State | |
|
In office 4 March 1896 – 30 May 1902 |
|
| Preceded by | Francis William Reitz |
| Succeeded by | Christiaan de Wet (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
2 October 1857 Winburg, Orange Free State |
| Died | 28 November 1916 (aged 58) Bloemfontein, Orange Free State Province, Union of South Africa |
| Political party |
South African Party National Party |
| Spouse(s) | Rachel Isabella (Tibbie) Fraser |
| Alma mater | Grey College, Leiden University |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Religion | Dutch Reformed |
Martinus (or Marthinus) Theunis Steyn (2 October 1857 – 28 November 1916) was a South African lawyer, politician, and statesman, sixth and last president of the independent Orange Free State from 1896 to 1902.
The Steyn family farmed near Winburg on the farm Josephinesdal. Steyn was born on 2 October 1857 on the farm Rietfontein near Winburg in the Orange Free State. His father Marthinus (known as Marthinus 'blinkstewels') was away from home, after the death of his own father, to assist his mother. This was around trip of three months from Winburg to Swellendam in the Cape Colony. As Cecilia, Steyn's mother was pregnant with Marthinus Theunis, they thought it saver for her to stay with her sister Gertruida, that was married to Theunis Wessels, which farmed on Rietfontein. Steyn was meant to be named only Marthinus after his father, but because of the good care that Theunis and Gertruida took during Cecilia's pregnancy, Steyn was called both after his father Marthinus and his uncle Theunis. In later years his family always called him Theunis.
During the Basotho War of 1858, the Steyns was driven from their farm and lost almost everything. After the death of Steyn's two grandfathers, his Wessels grandmother convinced his father to buy his own farm. They bought the farm Suurfontein/Zuurfontein, on the Modder River, about 13 miles from Bloemfontein. It is on this farm that Steyn spent most of his youth years. It was here that he experienced and came to love the open and free spaces of the Free State. It was days of hard work and assisting with everything on the farm.
Steyn started his school years in a small farm school, on the farm Rooiwal. The school was about forty minutes per horse and the teacher was a Mister Wiggins, which taught in English. Another Basoeto War started in 1864. The family was again disrupted and Theunis and his brother Tewie went to stay with their Wessels grandmother, from where they attended a little 'grammar' school for a short while; after which they were send to Grey College.
At the age of 16 he left school with his brother Tewie to farm on Zuurfontein. Steyn's family lived right across from the then president of the Free State, J.H. Brand, in Bloemfontein. The family formed part of the Dutch families that where socially active. The Steyn home in Bloemfontein, Green Lodge, was the meeting place for the young people of Bloemfontein. The house was open for everybody; from the Fichardts from German origin, the English speaking Robertses, the Jewish Baumans, English speaking Afrikaners, like President Brand as well as the Dutch community.
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