The first time we locate Marthinus after his baptism is at his marriage on 23 November 1823 to Catharina Maria Janse van Rensburg. He and his immediately older brother, Daniel Jan Andries, have married two sisters.

The next time we locate him, is on 15 March 1825 at Uitenhage when he baptises his first child in the Dutch Reformed Church parish in town. Roughly eighteen months later, on 29 October 1826, he and Catharina baptise their son Matthys Marthinus in the Anglican Church in Grahamstown. Their surname is corrupted to "Boeyeng" in the process. On this occassion his residence is given as Albany. That is the district east of Port Elizabeth. While the portion south of the Zuurberg is not typically Afrikaner country at this time, it is the region where both Piet Uys and Piet Retief will reside at various times before departing as leaders of the Great Trek in 1836/37.

On 22 November 1829 he baptises in the Grahamstown Anglican Church once more. This time his surname is given as "Boosen". After this, we altogether lose track of him for eighteen years.

And then, out of the blue on 30 June 1847, a widowed Afrikaner Boer with name given as Martinus Boyens baptizes five of his eight children in the Anglican Church of Grahamstown. The entries in the baptism books state: "Parents: Martinus & the late Catherina Boyens; Occupation: Farmer; Residence: Sunday's River". For some or other reason, his last daughter born around 1 April 1846 is not baptised on this day. We suspect the rest of the family may have taken her in, as she is too young to be looked after by a single male farmer in tough country.

The Sundays River starts out in the Sneeuberg above Graaff-Reinet. From Graaff-Reinet, which lies in a huge bend in the river, it cuts southward through the harsh plain south of the town toward the Swartruggens. After passing through the high "Money plant" studded ridges, it runs through the Karoo town of Jansenville situated at their southern foot of the ridge. From here, it heads southeastward over the euphorbia covered Noorsveld to cut through the Zuurberg at Perdepoort to the 21st century citrus town of Kirkwood. From there it heads for a point just east of Port Elizabeth to mouth out in the Indian Ocean. Given the history of the Booyens family in the general area of Jansenvlle and further west and southwest, we conclude Marthinus is based somewhere near the 21st century location of Jansenville. It was at this spot that his father Mattheus had his reported encounter in the previous century with a Khoekhoe woman who had killed her own child [See Mattheus' page]. Why he would baptise in the Grahamstown Anglican Church rather than the Dutch Reformed Church in Graaff-Reinet remains a mystery. For those not familiar with this part of the world, we show here a picture taken on the drainage plain of the Sunday's (actually Zondaghs) River, better known as the Camdeboo, south of Graaff-Reinet. The picture clearly shows the unique contrasts of this part of the world.

The image below shows Grahamstown's Church Square in 1849, as seen through the eyes of artist and traveller Thomas Baines. St George's church--later Cathedral--is in the background. Its imposing tower was built much later. At this point the church has not yet been formally consecrated.

It may well be that Martinus has plans to leave the Cape Colony and therefore baptises the children. We make this statement, because two years later, on 24 May 1849, he appears to be witness to a baptism by his eldest daughter Magdalena in Smithfield in the southeast Free State [#1]. However, this may also be his 16-year old son Marthinus Gerhardus Johannes, though 16 is a bit young for a witness. We do not trace Marthinus*1801 at any further baptisms by his own children. He essentially disappears.

On 13 May 1870 a sparsely completed Death Notice is filed in the Northern Transvaal town of Pietpotgietersrust. It relates to a man named Martinus Booyens estimated to be "61" years old and who has died five days earlier at Marabastad, some distance to the north. No names of parents, spouses or children are known to the individual completing the notice; only the surnames of the spouses of three daughters and the fact that there is a son somewhere. The surnames of those sons-in-law identify the departed as none other than Marthinus Gerhardus Booyens*1801, the last son of Mattheus Booyens and the man who defines the fifth wing of the present Booyens family.

For the references, see below^#