A Decade of Stories

Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed on October 30, 2014, ten years ago, that articles about our family history and related topics would have mushroomed into a huge volume of information. In fact, it has taken several days for me to come up with a few sentences to introduce this article, where I hope to review some of my most enjoyable writings.

In the first article from 2014, Andrew published a piece that I had written in 2008 that explained why we are called “Hagenbuch.” That piece has led into other articles that support the story of the Buchbaum, but also delve into the story’s nuances and lead us to question some of its facts. I suppose that is one of the advantages of what Andrew and I set out to do. With all the stories out there about our family, there were bound to be portions of stories that we weren’t sure were completely true.

Take for instance the early story of “One Silver Dollar” from November 25, 2015. I can’t truly be certain that the story Uncle Perce and cousin Bruice told me so many years ago occurred in that manner. I do know that great Uncle Gene died and his widow received a measly payout. However, did the tale occur exactly as I recalled? This is one of many stories I have written about over the past ten years—stories that have truth embedded in them and branch out with details that may, occasionally, be correct. The May, 2015 article about the confrontation between Uncle Perce and his brother in law, my great Uncle Will Roat, is another example of truth versus fiction. Stories like this one tend to be my favorites.

Three views of the privy bottle stamped with Hagenbuch (left) and Williamsport (right)

Oh, to be sure, I enjoy researching our family’s names, dates, and places that get me to use Findagrave, Ancestry, the Hagenbuch paper records, and other documents—all of which are pure research. But, even more enjoyable is when these facts lead me to find details that I didn’t know about, such as uncovering family secrets. For example, in a 2019 article we explored the story of a bottle found in an outhouse, which led me to learn about similar glass bottles.

Most enjoyable of all is when I have used my imagination to take a story and add to it, resulting in something more creative. These are the pieces that have made me happiest—articles that are based on facts but have become lively recreations of the past. The 2017 series I did about Andreas Hagenbuch’s soldier sons are of this type and led me to write an additional two articles about Andreas’ sons-in-law which were published in 2023. Mostly based on facts, I tried to flesh out details about the lives and service of these individuals. I also provided some interesting suppositions and fascinating possibilities about the men’s experiences during the “times that try men’s souls.” (The famous quote by Thomas Paine.)

The most creative series I wrote pulled at my imagination more than any other. In the five articles of “The Book”, I took some small bits of fact and wove a story about a book—Wahres Christentum (True Christianity)—that was willed to John Hagenbuch (b. 1763) from his father Andreas (b. 1715). I am very proud of these five articles; and I am joyful when I reread them to know that some of this story may have occurred. Yet, I am also quite chagrined that the last parts cannot be true. (Although, they may have happened under different circumstances!) I took facts, and as I wrote about them, the facts evolved into a piece of historical fiction that makes our family’s past more alive.

Four Hagenbuch family Bibles

“The Book” series, which leaned heavily upon religious ideas, led to three articles about my family Bible collection in 2017 and then the July of 2023 article, “What’s in a Bible?” Over the past ten years, I have written articles about family ephemera which include Bible subjects, documents, letters, diaries, and, well, books in general. Take for instance the 5-part series about my great grandparents, Samuel and Mary (Davis) Sechler and their love letters. This falls under my previous way of taking some details and adding creative ideas—a process that is delightful to me.

Although I have been rambling through this present article, I hope readers are getting the idea that pure facts and details in articles don’t necessarily make, at least for me, the most entertaining of articles. However, it’s those details that have led me down “the garden path” to build interesting stories. And, on the fringes there are more bits and pieces that push our family stories to become even more imaginative.

I surely cannot leave out all the photos that have made me smile, especially the depictions of clothing, old-timey furniture, facial expressions, and the likes. Enjoyable articles are the ones that encourage me to continue writing and digging into the history that makes our family history seem unique. Notice how I wrote “seem”! Our family may not actually be more unique than others, but I know that Andrew and I can sit for hours sharing our stories with people and holding their interest. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I believe that is something special to our family.

Hagenbuch ladies in a Victorian era tableau photograph, c. 1900

As readers go through the past ten years of writing (which I hope you will all take the time to do), there is another aspect which pushes the cream of an article’s interest to the top—humor. The pieces I have enjoyed the most have a touch, or maybe even a punch, of humor in them. This may be a family trait, as I know great Uncle Perce would have agreed to the importance of humor. Yes, the bulk of the articles in Hagenbuch.org have a serious bent to them. But there are also a significant number with touch on humor, even when the overarching tone is solemn.

In January of 2015, I wrote an article that uses the phrase “pickle on a plate.” This always makes my family laugh. Furthermore, the same article has a section that brings wide smiles to family members with details for the “hard of hearing,”; and the same article has the anecdote in it about a piece of string in a sandwich! But then, that same article included a poignant story about my father going off to the Army; the details of which bring the smiles to a screeching halt. I enjoy sharing these tales, since they challenge us to consider the mix of happy and sad moments in every family’s history. I will admit that writing more than 260 articles during the past ten years has made me reflect upon life’s moments of both joy and sorrow. They are stories that must be recorded so that they are all remembered.

I realize it’s difficult for our readers to keep up with all that we want to share. As I write my article every other week, it keeps me on my toes to go back over the old stories, to make them fresh and interesting, and to help readers smile and even work our tear ducts. I do ask that since this is all so important to Andrew and me, that you make an effort to not only read each new story every week, but also that you reread previous ones, too. Look at it this way: Andrew and I may be the ones who uncover the stories and work to make them interesting. However, you are the ones who must share stories and pass them on to your relatives, friends, and neighbors. Our stories are your stories and these become every family’s stories—entertaining, sad, happy, and educational.

Mark and Andrew Hagenbuch, October 2024