Vergenoeg, the Church Organ and the Eldoret Ox Wagon

An overview of two short records in Habari 1987, the newsletter of the Friends of East Africa: "Skenking van kerkorrel" (Gift of a church organ), prepared by Ds J. Grobler, and "Die Oos-Afrika ossewa" (The East African ox wagon). Both originals are in Afrikaans. This is a summary for readers of this archive, not a translation.

Two objects from the Afrikaner settlement of the Uasin Gishu ended up in South Africa: the old organ of the Vergenoeg church in Eldoret, and an ox wagon that once carried a family to communion. Habari 1987 recorded where each came from.

Vergenoeg: far enough

The Dutch Reformed congregation of Vergenoeg was founded on 29 August 1908 on Frans Arnoldi's farm near Nakuru by Ds J.M. Louw, who had been sent from the Transvaal. He named it Vergenoeg, "far enough", because the Afrikaners had now trekked far enough. His text was Mark 16 verse 3.

The first church was the so called bamboo church, a temporary building with bamboo walls and a thatched roof, put up on Koos Prinsloo's farm about 12 km east of Eldoret soon after Ds M.P. Loubser arrived in 1909. The second church, in Eldoret, was dedicated free of debt by Ds Loubser on Dingaan's Day (16 December) 1921, built through the congregation's own effort and gifts from the south. The old organ was used there until 1958. The church council minutes mention it only twice, in December 1926, when a small debt on it was still owing, and members paid it off on the spot.

A third church was never built. A large building fund was set aside, but the plans were dropped as the Afrikaners began to leave. The congregation was dissolved on 19 January 1975 at a last service led by Ds A.S. Labuschagne. At its final council meeting on 11 October 1975 it decided to give the building fund to Huis Vergenoeg, a home for the aged in Pretoria, and to send its treasured objects to the church archive in Pretoria. Deacon Chris Hearne brought the organ to South Africa, and on 7 October 1978 the Friends of East Africa committee handed it over to Huis Vergenoeg.

The East African ox wagon

The wagon was a Merryweather of 1915. Albert Steyn of Eldoret ordered it directly from the Merryweather factory in Pietermaritzburg as early as 1912, writing in his letter which wood should be used for each part. It was delivered in Kenya during the First World War, probably in 1915 or 1916, and was commandeered by the Belfield Scouts. Unlike many other wagons, it came back undamaged and was used for farm transport and for trips to communion.

After the war it was sold to J.F. Rousseau of Eldoret for £150, yokes included, at a time when a new Plymouth car cost £125. At Eldoret's fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 1962 it was part of the show on the agricultural showground, with C.J. Roets driving a span of black Afrikaner oxen. It then went to Hughes Ltd in Kitale, where Rousseau's son in law Dirk Coetzee was manager, and was used for shows. After independence it was given to C.J. Roets, and in 1965 J.N. Boshoff and his son A.G. Boshoff collected it, took it apart and shipped it to South Africa. Later issues of Habari (2003 and 2010) report that it now stands at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria.

Why it matters

These short notes fix some dates that are often blurred: the founding of Vergenoeg in 1908, the bamboo church on Koos Prinsloo's farm (the land that later became part of Chepkoilel), the Eldoret church of 1921, and the end of the congregation in 1975. The church buildings themselves stayed in Eldoret and are now used by other congregations.

Sources: "Skenking van kerkorrel" and "Die Oos-Afrika ossewa", Habari 1987, pages 56 to 57 of the PDF, Friends of East Africa. Read the original issue (Afrikaans). See also the guide to settler stories in Habari.