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Fort Kochi - Jacob Krantz (1735-1787) and Maria de Rode (1771-1798)

Written by Valentine Wikaart on .

Jacob Kraus van Edenburg, captain-lieutenant and commander of the artillery, was born on 13 February 1735 in Edenburg and died 26 January 1787 in Kochi. He was married to Klara Elisabeth Schaak. Maria Elisabeth de Rode was born 22 October 1771 and died on 10 January 1798 in Tranquebar. She was married to Johan Casper Kautz and adopted daughter of Jacob Krantz and Klara Elisabeth Schaak.

The search for information about the man buried as Jacob Krantz is complicated by a number of factors. Firstly, the fact that a foreign name is often scrambled and no fixed spelling is used. They wrote down what they heard and sometimes things went wrong. Sometimes the country of origin can help. It makes a difference whether you are looking for a Scottish, German or South-African name and it just so happens that there is a place with that name in all three countries, even if it is tiny in Germany. Edenburg in South Africa, however can’t be the right place because it was only founded in 1862. But even with our Jacob this provides little clarity, because initially nothing can be ruled out. In addition, there is the misfortune that in the Kochi of the second half of the eighteenth century the surnames Krouse, Crouse, Croese, Kautz, Koutz, Kraus and Krantz appear, which turn out to be at least two, but perhaps three different families. It looks like a game of blind man's buff. Until a will turns up from a Jacob Kraus that offers a connection.

That it is about the right person is apparent from the fact that in his will he leaves money to his adoptive daughter Maria Elisabeth de Rode. In 1759 he stated that he had left as a soldier on the ship Vrouwe Petronella of the Amsterdam Chamber. But his name does not appear in the database for persons on board. However, the ledger of the Vrouwe Petronella offers a solution. On page 335 Jacob Kouser from Edenburg appears. He left as a soldier, stayed in Colombo (Ceylon) from August 1762, married in 1768, was transferred to Kochi in January 1782, where he died on 26 January 1787, after having made up his will. Because the last authorized representative to withdraw his outstanding balance of 4,957 guilders was called Gottlob Silo, we can assume that Jacob Krantz was born in tiny Edenburg in Germany.[i]

The will also shows that he was married to Klara Elisabeth Schenk. Besides their adoptive daughter, they did not have any children of their own. Jacob had it recorded in the will how they adopted Maria Elisabeth de Rode. They had taken her in as an eight-month-old baby after the death of his friend Jan de Rode and his wife Louisa Kareira. Maria Elisabeth is said to have been born in Kalpetta. However, it is not clear whether her parents were both deceased and a will of theirs has not been found. Clara's family lived in Negombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

At the age of 16, Maria Elisabeth de Rode married on 28 October 1787 in Kochi the thirty-year-old Johan Casper Kautz van Cochin, son of Johan Arend Koutz van Keller and Maria de Silva van Cochin. Together they had five children who were all born and baptized in Kochi:

  • 15-2-1789 Jacob Arent, witnesses Christiaan Wilhelmus Kautz and Sara Elisabeth Schaak[ii]
  • 7-8-1791 Clara Maria, witnesses Johan Peter Rottler of Tranquebar and Clara Elisabeth Schaak
  • 23-9-1792 Petrus Casparus, witnesses Johan Peter Rottler of Tranquebar and Clara Elisabeth Schaak
  • 17-5-1795 Frederik Daniel, witnesses Daniel van der Sloot and Isabella Adriana de Krouse
  • 18-12-1796 Elisabeth Ernestina, witnesses Johan Peter Rottler, Danish missionary in Tranquebar, and Cornelia Elisabeth Zeijsig.

Despite the fact that her adoptive mother had married Peter Rottler on 27 April 1788 and moved to Tranquebar, 500 kilometres away, where the Danish mission was located, Maria Elisabeth de Rode was not left by herself. She had a family of her own. Moreover, it appears from the baptismal witnesses of her children that her mother and her husband were regularly in Kochi, which in the meantime had passed into English hands. Johan Kautz was a member of the Dutch Judicial Council under British administration and will thus have enjoyed an income.

Tragedy

Maria Elisabeth de Rode also visited her mother in Tranquebar. Fate struck there, because there she died on 10 January 1798. Her husband and children had stayed behind in Kochi and when Johan heard of her death in February 1798, he immediately informed the English administration and indicated that he would go there with his kids.[iii] On 12 April 1798, he borrowed money in a bill of exchange for a sum of 400 Suratian silver rupees and left with his children for Tranquebar.[iv] On 23 June 1798 a letter came to the lords of orphan masters in Kochi. The captain of the snarl Crocodille stated that it was true that the Madras newspaper of 13 June 1798 had stated that the snarl had sunk in the Gulf of Manaar and that their fellow member of the orphan masters of Kochi Jan Casper Kraitsz with his four 'underage' children had drowned unhappily.

Report of Krantz drowning (NL HaNA 1.11.06.11 1484 scan 0047)Report of Krantz drowning (NL HaNA 1.11.06.11 1484 scan 0047)

Only the youngest, Elisabeth Ernestina, aged eighteen months, had survived the disaster. She came back to Kochi and, one may assume, her mother's body as well. Johan and Mary Elisabeth had not made a will and as a result the little orphan now fell under the supervision of Kochi's orphanage. They sold the entire household effects and the proceeds were safely deposited in the orphanage, so that she would have a nice savings when she came of age. Unfortunately, that the savings were looted by the orphan masters themselves, so she didn't have much to expect from that.[v] Little Elisabeth was lovingly welcomed into the house of the wealthy 'Juffrouw Poolvliet' (Eng.: Miss Poolvliet), born Sara Harmansz., wife of Adriaan Poolvliet.[vi] She would have a safe home there for more than 8 years until Miss Poolvliet died in 1807. It is unknown what happened to the then 10-year-old Elisabeth.

The tombstone of Jacob Krantz and Maria Elisabeth de Rode was listed in Cotton's 'List of inscriptions on tombs or Monuments in Madras' (1905/1945), but is missing from later inventories. The monument may still be present at the Dutch Cemetery, but the text might be illeglible or the text plaque is missing. Thanks to Cotton we do know the inscription on the monument. The text: Hier onder rust d'E. Heer Jacob Krantz van Edenburg, Kapiteen Lieutenant en commandeur der artillerie overleden den 26 Januar. 1787 oud 51 jaaren 11 maanden en 12 dagen, en syne gedopteerde dochter Maria Elizabeth Rode van Kolombo huysvrouw van den boekhouder Johan Gaspar Krantz overleden 10 Jan. 1798 oud 26 jaaren 2 maanden en 19 dagen. In translation: Here rests the honourable sir Jacob Krantz van Edenburg, captain-lieutenant en commander of artillery died 26 January 1787, being of age 51 years 11 months and 12 days, and his adopted daughter Maria Elizabeth Rode van Kolombo housewife of bookkeeper Johan Gaspar Kranz died 10 January 1798 being of age 26 years 2 months and 19 days.

 

Notes

[i] NA 1.04.02.6374 scan 0740 Elisabeth Schenk

[ii] Probably a misspelling of Clara

[iii] NA 1.11.06.11.1484 scans 0047 0048 and 0058ev

[iv] NA 1.11.06.11.1502 scan 0013

[v] Singh, A  Fort Cochin in Kerala, 1750-1830

[vi] NA 1.11.06.11.1494 scans 117 up to and including 143

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