About The Author And His Books
J. K. Brandau writes information-rich histories unfettered by tradition or agendas imposed by academia, institutions, or political connections. Unique access to primary sources compelled publication of two books.
Background
J. K. Brandau was born in the four score and seventh year after the Battle of Gettysburg in Richmond, Virginia at Stuart Circle Hospital overlooking the J. E. B. Stuart monument. He grew up on that city’s Southside. Although childhood steeped him in Old Virginia lore, his scientific objectivity rises above the pea soup fog of time-honored myths.
School class trips to the Museum of the Confederacy, Historic Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, etc. reinforced identification with the Virginia’s Cavalier past. Both school and scout groups regularly toured Richmond’s cigarette factories for lessons in Virginia’s tobacco economy. Even as a seven-year-old, he received a free pack of cigarettes as a souvenir to “take home to his parents.” (Don’t stare! It is absolutely true!)
Brandau’s fifth grade teacher at Patrick Henry Elementary had a large photograph of General Robert E. Lee at the front of the class and insisted everyone, stand to her stirring piano accompaniment and sing Dixie! Odd as it may seem now, the spirit of 1860 remained alive in South Richmond on the eve of the Civil War Centennial.
Grandparents reminisced about World War I and spoke of their grandparents in the Civil War. Adults related personal experiences in World War II. Mid-twentieth century America provided a history smorgasbord. Larger than life figures like Davy Crockett, Zorro, Spartacus, etc. captured imagination.
Classic, black and white TV was a constant companion. “Watch Mr. Wizard” inspired interest in science. Attention oscillated between history and the space race. A chemistry set for Christmas escalated to backyard experiments with homemade rockets (essentially open-ended pipe bombs). By the grace of God, the author survived adolescence with all fingers and eyes intact.
Divine guidance to study science rather than history led to a chemistry degree from Old Dominion University. Subsequent employment by Laboratory Services at Newport News Shipbuilding provided a forty-five year career, seven as lead chemist. Biblical and secular histories remained chief avocations.
Whether examining Virginia archives, ancestral villages, or biblical sites, the same Spirit of Truth relied upon as a scientist enables Brandau to sift precious nuggets from dung heaps of tradition and popular misconceptions.
The Books
Murder At Green Springs (Published 2007)
One evening in 1981, while visiting her father, Evelyn Harris, the author’s mother-in-law pressed a trivial matter too far. The old gentleman exploded, “You’re just like your grandmother – the murderer!” Thus, the long-guarded family secret came out. Newspaper coverage Evelyn examined at the Library of Virginia was no trivial matter, but damning, front-page news for six months in 1914. By then, all the principals involved were dead. Poor Evelyn went to her grave unable to unravel the secret about the grandmother she loved so dearly while growing up.
For nearly twenty years, the author kidded wife Sharon about her great-grandmother the “murderer.” Sweet Sharon took the jibes in good humor. One day she wondered about Mrs. Hall’s release from prison. The Virginia State Archives held many boxes with file folders, each held about a dozen paroles. However, E. A. Hall had her own folder stuffed with letters. All petitioned successive governors for her release. Family, jurors, county officials, even the judge that tried the case declared that Mrs. Hall had been railroaded.
The story grew more remarkable as research progressed. Multiple arsons, multiple murders, a smallpox epidemic, a case before the Virginia Supreme Court, and political intrigues surfaced. Not only was the author’s wife’s family involved, but the author’s also! He discovered personal relationship to one of the 1901 smallpox victims. Distant cousins had information about that. Incredibly, rabbit trails revealed the author’s sister had married into the family of the 1905 murder victim! Moreover, the original owner of the Hall store, site of the murder, was the father of his eight grade English teacher, yet another unique source of information and photographs.
In the 1920’s, the clerk of court discarded the trial transcript contrary to law. Miraculously, a local deputy salvaged part of it. This enabled his nephew Albert “Sambo” Johnson to provide the sole source of defense witness testimonies. (The newspapers printed only prosecution witness testimonies.) Thus, the author found himself uniquely positioned to write the story of injustice, intrigue, and coverup.
Readers judge the evidence for themselves.
Lions of the Dan (Published 2019)
Casual interest in the Civil War identified great-great grandfather James Lafayette Oakes as a private in Company B, 38th Virginia Infantry. Over time, research expanded to his bothers, cousins, the Pittsylvania Regiment in general, and eventually their brigade. These were men of Armistead’s Brigade made famous in “Pickett’s Charge.” Yet, little mention of these men is found outside the context of Gettysburg. In most Civil War chronicles, it is as if they appeared for that one moment, then vanished away. Why is that?
Amazing personalities, relationships, deeds, and facts surfaced. The long-ignored history of Southside Virginia and its soldiers emerged. As the aperture widened beyond the narrow focus of Gettysburg, the Lost Cause myths surrounding Armistead and Pickett evaporated. The body of information comprised the dramatic, never-before-told story of Armistead’s Brigade over the entirety of the war.
Once again, the author found himself uniquely positioned to write history that needed telling. They were the “Lions of the Dan.”