It was at this same home on Valley Road that my mother slipped in front of the stove one day. Her feet caught in a mat, and she fell heavily and broke her hip. This left her an invalid for the rest of her life. She did dress and sit in her chair but had to be carried when she wanted to move from it. This loving task mostly fell to Gordon or me. It was about this time, approximately 1910, that Grandfather and Granny Brandstater moved from the old homestead and went to live at Glenorchy. His boys had become men and had taken the routine course of leaving the feathered family nest.
EMANUEL
Emanuel had married Wilhemina, always “Minnie” Darko, and he joined the colporteur group selling Adventist books, both medical and religious. His territory was largely up in the mid northern area of Tasmania. Vinyard and Melrose are names often mentioned by my parents as places where the young family lived. I was born at Melrose on February 23, 1898, the youngest of the family.
It is recorded that while Father was canvassing his books at Melrose he held some evangelistic meetings which resulted in a company of new Adventists being raised in this centre. Later, while working down south of Hobart in Glen Huon, a prosperous fruit growing area, he also interested some people in the Adventist Message. Unable to cope with the wide interest awakened, he sent for help. Pastors Hilliard and Parker came to his rescue and raised up the Glen Huon Church. Besides being a spiritual leader, Emanuel seemed to be the one called upon for counsel and practical help by many in the district. I used to enjoy listening to his stories while on the road selling books. He was a natural mechanic. Once when the new reaping-binder for hay broke down on a farm, he offered to help, set the machine working, and of course sold his books on the basis of gratitude.
I recall a number of times visiting with him after work at the mill, putting in a window for someone or fixing some broken down piece of machinery. I used to be especially intrigued at his wizardry with clocks and watches. While visiting he would notice a dead clock on the shelf. Typical question: “What’s the matter with your clock?” “Oh I don’t know; it just gave up quite a while ago and no winding or shaking seems to make it go”. He would ask for some kerosene, pull out a tiny screwdriver, use a feather dipped in the kerosene, and presto! It would come to life. People used to bring their watches to him, so many that he was unable to cope with them all. I never knew him to charge anyone for these small helpful services; but I did notice how he was warmly regarded and esteemed.
OTHER BRANDSTATER BOYS
Arthur and Albert were allured by the prospects of a medical training at the renowned Battle Creek Sanitarium under Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. It was a very large medical center with a world reputation for drugless medicine and emphasis on natural water treatment and proper diet. It was a fifteen hundred bed institution that served as a hospital and sanitarium for people needing care, treatment and rest. Besides it was a training institution for nurses and advanced students seeking both a religious and medical career, though not designed to produce fully credentialled doctors.
Both these young Brandstater men broke away from the confines of Bismarck and made their way to America and Battle Creek, where they joined the student body and graduated after several years of study. Uncle Arthur married Florence Grattidge on his return, and was appointed by the New Zealand Conference to take over the Sanitarium at Christchurch, New Zealand. He had four children, Grace, Myrtle, Will and Reuben. Later they adopted Florence.
Albert met Margaret Kessler in America and together, for a time, they came back to Tasmania, where he worked with my father at the mill. They had three sons, Oliver, Glenn and Kenneth. Uncle returned to America and took up dentistry; their three sons later followed the same profession. Albert was a handsome and talented gentleman, a good student, and with a good singing voice in his younger days. He and Aunt Margaret made several recordings on the old Edison Bell Records, of which our family was very proud. Wouldn’t I love to have one of those records today! And an old cylinder phonograph on which to play it!
Hermann went to New South Wales, Australia and followed the trade of carpentry at Cooranbong. The heart of the district was, and is, the Avondale College. Here he met Minnie Hughes and married her. They had two boys, Reg and Cecil. An interesting romance item is the love story of Hermann and May Lacey of Tasmania in the youthful days before Willie White met her in the home of Ellen G. White in Australia. Willie urged matrimony, his mother seconded the motion, May consented, and Uncle Hermann lost his girl to Willie. Many years later, when White had passed away, she wrote a kindly memory letter to Uncle Hermann about early romance days, and he cherished it to the end of his life.
Charlie also took to carpentering, married Dolly Smith of Glenorchy, and they had two daughters, Thelma and Beryl. Fritz simply roamed and worked at a variety of occupations. He had musical ability in his early years but failed to develop this talent, lacking opportunity. He lived the respectable life of a drifter with many friends but no established harbour home. Aunt Lena never married. She cared for the home fold and particularly her mother after Grandfather was gone. She contracted arthritis later in life and just faded out of the family scene as we all scattered far and wide.
