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Paul Zwar – a detailed life story22.1.1870– 3.7.1928The fourth child and second son of Johann and Anna Zwar Johann Zwar’s first wife, Magdalena nee Schmal, died of tuberculosis on October 22nd 1859 aged 40 years leaving three daughters, Maria (11), Anna (6) and Christiane (3). Johann tried engaging housekeepers but suitable ones were hard to find. He travelled to Melbourne to investigate the suggestion of Pastor Goerthe that he work for the Lutheran Church in Melbourne. After a great deal of anguish, prayer and advice from sympathetic friends, he realised that his best option was to remarry. While in Melbourne he stayed with Andreas Kaiser for four weeks.
The Kaiser and Zwar families lived a short distance from each other
in Drehsa and knew each other well. The wedding took place on the 6th April 1863 in Melbourne. Anna cared for the girls like their mother and the marriage produced another seven children. Paul was born after Johannes, Salome and Lydia. He was brought up on the family farm (along with his brothers and sisters). The farm grew to nearly 500 acres by 1890 made up of 6 separate parcels of land. Farm life As well as being a farmer, Johann was a well respected practitioner in Homeopathy and no doubt Johannes and Paul were given increasing responsibilities in the farming operations which included chaff making as demands for Johann’s skills grew. Paul remained living with his parents whereas his brothers and sisters moved away to establish their own careers and families. His three stepsisters married, Maria in 1869, Anna in 1876, and
Christina in 1882. Johannes, the oldest son, married and therefore left home in August 1893 to establish his own home on land a short distance to the North-East of the Zwar homestead. Both Hermann and Bernard continued their education at University to study medicine and they became Medical Practitioners. Bernard married in 1916 but Hermann died of typhoid in Clermont, Queensland before reaching the age of 30. Marriage Paul and Bertha produced eight children; Garry 1899, Eddie 1902, Alf 1903, Frieda 1905, Marie 1906, Rudi 1908, Martin 1911(died as infant) and Conrad 1914 (died of meningitis in 1922). Houses built on the home block
of 48 acres The second house was built of stone in the more traditional German style i.e. rectangular with a loft or attic with a window facing north, verandah front & back, & probably a separate kitchen and underground cellar. The front garden was fenced off with wooden pickets along the road. The original house was retained and it became the sleeping quarters of the boys, as they grew older. The upper photograph, shows the northern aspect of the second Zwar home while the lower photograph shows the front or western aspect of the third home. (photos taken by JDZ in 1995) There is some conjecture about when the third house was completed. It is possible that it was completed in 1897 prior to the wedding of Paul and Bertha. However some researchers suggest it was not completed until 1905. It is a substantial house of four main rooms constructed in a style typical of houses built in the Barossa Valley at about the turn of the century. It appears that Johann and Anna lived in the back two rooms of
the third house and probably had meals with Paul and Bertha in the
older house. It is believed that a laundry and possibly a kitchen
existed between these two houses. The front two rooms were set aside
for Johann’s medical practice, one a waiting room, the other
the consulting room. A God-fearing man He continued to work the farm, having pigs, cows, sheep, as well as growing wheat, barley, oats. He also carried on the chaff making business. Working with the horses, and caring for them, played a significant part in the farm workload. Whereas many neighbours began to establish vineyards, Paul (it is thought) resisted and would not allow vines to be planted as he reasoned that it might encourage his boys to take up “drink”. A story goes that Paul sold apples from the orchard to a Kapunda merchant. The apples were individually polished and wrapped by the Zwars and keenly sought after by the residents of Kapunda. The merchant charged double what he paid for the apples. In 1914 Paul purchased a farm of approximately 1,700 acres south of Steinfeld (later to be renamed Stonefield due to the War). The farm was partially developed. The farm adjoined the Sturt Highway and the road off it to Steinfeld. This settlement comprised a hall (perhaps the first church and later to be used as the one teacher primary school) a Lutheran Church and Manse and a Post Office and residence. Many families lived in the district. On the farm there was a substantial stone house and many stonewalled sheds (straw roofs) an iron roofed woolshed and large machinery shed and so on. It is understandable that Paul was impressed when he first saw it. He borrowed a lot of money to buy it thinking that he was securing the future for his growing family. His Sons He also developed a washing machine business selling the ZWAR Patent Vacuum washing machine. This developed from his association with Goern, the Washing Machine manufacturer at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. Later Garry established himself as a salesman and South Australian rep. for the Aladdin Industries and progressed to become assistant sales manager. Garry loved to travel and he sold his products extensively in South Australia and more especially in Eastern Australia. He made a lot of friends, some in high places. He travelled to Ceylon by sea in the 1920’s. He married Mary Iker, late in life on 22nd September 1955 and settled
in Qld. NOTE: It is likely that all of Paul and Bertha’s children attended the Ebenezer Lutheran School for most of their education. However it seems that some, if not all, transferred to Stockwell Primary School for the last year or two. There is a photograph of 18 children and their teacher P.B. Wilksch holding a small blackboard on which is written “Ebenezer Lutheran School, P.B.Wilksch, Teacher, 23.7.13” The students include Edward (11) Alf (10) Frieda (8) and Marie (7). Another photograph shows a group of 45 pupils and a teacher with a wall of the Stockwell Primary School as background. Edward attended this school in 1915 but was taken out of school during the year to help his father Paul fulltime. He does not appear on the photo but Alf and Frieda (and Lucy, 5th child of Johannes, Paul’s older brother) do. The photo was probably taken in 1915. By 1915 Paul was having trouble with a hip condition, the cause of which is not known but probably resulted from an injury. It seems that Eddie at age of 13 went to the Stonefield farm in 1915 and worked there for more than 12 years often “batching” for long spells. He was confirmed by Pastor Meier on 31st October 1915. He would come home to Ebenezer for weekends sometimes or be brought fresh food supplies by sister Frieda. Later Eddie had some help: Cecil Leigh, Frieda’s boyfriend who was out of work and also Ed Blesing, Marie’s boyfriend worked at Stonefield probably at pressure times like seeding time, harvest time or shearing time. On the Stonefield property they ran sheep for wool and meat and did some cropping of wheat and oats. Wheat was sold to the Stockwell Flour mill. The conditions on the Murray Flats produced excellent quality hard grain eagerly sought by flour millers. Excess stock was sold probably at the Truro market and wool was consigned to Pt. Adelaide for sale by agents such as Goldborough Mort or Elder Smiths. When he was 18 in 1920, Edward undertook military training but the War had ended. He was proud of the photograph of himself in uniform. By the time of the great depression Paul was in real trouble with his hip and, to add to his woes, little headway was being made to reduce debt due to droughts and economic conditions. In the meantime Edward had met the love of his life, Louise Alma Schliebs. Although the relationship flourished, conditions and circumstances were not deemed right for marriage. Back at Ebenezer, Alf and Paul continued the farming and chaff
business. Rudi also went off “farm” to find work, getting jobs on various properties. He worked in the Riverland where he met with a serious accident, apparently colliding with another vehicle while riding his motorcycle in the dark. Tragically, it resulted in brain damage from which he never fully recovered. Martin, born in November 1911, died in March the following year of an infant’s ailment which led to dehydration. Paul’s father Johann died on 25th July 1912 aged 90. Conrad was born in 1914. He died in 1922 of what is believed to
have been encephalitis. A sudden death The night of Paul’s death, a large pine tree at the gate of their home crashed to the ground and there was an unexplained loud knock on the door. Paul’s death was unexpected and all the more tragic because a will had not been drawn up: this had very adverse consequences for the family for now as well as trying to meet debt repayments, they were faced with a large probate bill. The estate continued to operate with Alf and Frieda looking after the finances and working the farm at Ebenezer. Eddie struggled on at Stonefield. The intention was to work off the debt (probate and Stonefield). Eddie had resolved not to marry until he could offer his bride a more secure future. However, he and Alma announced their engagement on 21st April 1929 – apart from Paul, the whole family was still together. Alma was 20 years old. Events moved gradually towards winding up the estate. Although there was no proper will, it seems that there were some promissory notes for the two daughters and apparently these needed to be honoured. For example, Frieda was able to purchase a house at Magill. (Later mother Bertha went to live with her.) The result of all this was that Eddie received little recompense for all the years of work for his father and the estate, which was wound up deeply in debt. The ‘wind up’ clearing sale was held at the homesteads in 1937. The land and houses had been sold to Johann (Jack) Mickan. At the clearing sale, household goods were sold; it appears that the children secured some of the items for themselves. Frieda was able to get some items of furniture, which eventually passed out of the family when her husband Wasyl Petaluk died (many years after Frieda died – they had married late in life). Garry had a beautiful chest of drawers, which came to Bertha’s grandson John. At the sale Alma bid on the large and beautifully carved sideboard …it was quickly knocked down to her (perhaps by prior arrangement). She still has it in her home at Nuriootpa (2001). Jane Leno (daughter of Gloria, Eddie’s oldest child) lovingly restored a large round dining table and chairs, which originally were Bertha’s. All the horses were sold. (Eddie had a buggy and two horses at Stonefield.) Eddie negotiated with the manager of the National Bank, Angaston, to take over the land at Stonefield and this included the considerable debt still owing. He and Louise Alma Schliebs were finally married on August 28th 1937 at Grunberg by Pastor R. B. Reuther. After considerable work on repairing the Stonefield home (Alma’s brother Richard helped a great deal with this), Eddie and Alma began their married life at Stonefield – on marginal land and a huge debt. (How they survived and managed to successfully raise four healthy children deserves a special book). After the sale, Jack Mickan allowed Alf to continue living in the older home – Alf conducted some sort of business selling goods. Frieda by this time was living at Magill with her mother Bertha. Marie and Ed Blesing married on 7th May 1931 and lived firstly at Nuriootpa and later in Adelaide. Bertha died on 16th July 1942, and was laid to rest in the Magill cemetery. Theodore (Ted) Roehr purchased the Zwar homes and the acreage around them in 1942. When Ted died, his wife Ida (known as Minna) continued to live in the third house until the late 1990’s. Ted and Minna had a son and a daughter. The latter married a Zwar descendant, Royce Kleinig who is a great grandson of Johann and Anna Zwar.
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