Where Does Our Story Go From Here?

Every family has a story.

So in that sense, the Hagenbuch family is like any other. Although, when you look past the surface, you’ll start to discover what makes each family unique. Again, the Hagenbuch family is no exception.

This website is dedicated to exploring the Hagenbuch family in the United States, as well as to identifying its roots in Europe. History, folklore, and genealogy all play an important role in telling this story.

The above text was posted to Hagenbuch.org as part of the site’s very first article—if you can even call it that. These words communicated our vision for what the site was and everything it would become. That first post welcomed readers to the site and graced the homepage for a decade. This is no longer the case.

Beginning today, each week’s featured article will be placed at the top of the homepage. While our vision for the site has not changed, so many other aspects of our lives have. I’ll explain more about this in a moment. However, before doing so, I want to briefly return to the inspiration for Hagenbuch.org.

At some point, most people have asked themselves the question: “How did I get here?” The simplest answer requires one to retrace their life from birth to the present. This process defines a personal history filled with stories about friends and family, memories of key events and milestones, and feelings tied to hopes and dreams. Each person’s history is unique, and for many this is enough to answer any questions about individual origins. But for others this response is not enough. It frustratingly leads to more questions and calls one to seek out other branches and deeper roots within their family tree.

Mark Hagenbuch and his father, Homer Hagenbuch at the Hagenbuch homestead cemetery, c. 1975

My journey began much like this. Yes, I knew some about my family, and thanks to my genealogist father, I understood a little about the origins of our Hagenbuch name. That said, it wasn’t until 2010 when I began asking questions about our family tree. I was living in California at the time and thinking of my family in Pennsylvania. I knew that I had been named after our immigrant ancestor, Andreas Hagenbuch (b. 1715). Yet, I had so little knowledge about him or his life. I set out to learn more.

It had been almost two decades since my father was actively engaged in Hagenbuch research. I thought I might add to his work by using modern, digital tools and the internet. I also hoped that through genealogy we might find a similar hobby that would bring us closer together, even though we were physically separated by several thousand miles.

On August 2, 2010, I wrote the following to my father in an email:

Have a question for you. Have I ever been to the Hagenbuch homestead? If so, when? I do not remember it.

Is this the original farm where Andreas settled? What is still there? Did he have to buy this land or was it given to him?

Questions like these led to answers, which only led to more questions. I had been to the Hagenbuch Homestead as a young child, but I remembered nothing of it. Now I wanted to go back. On October 10, 2010, I visited the homestead for the first time as an adult. That experience only further inspired my interest in genealogy. From a computer in California, I began to explore digitized property records, wills, photographs, and other historic documents related to our family. Some of these my father had never seen before. Discoveries were being made.

The cemetery at the Hagenbuch Homestead was overgrown in 2010

By 2014, I felt that we had uncovered enough new and interesting information that I wanted to share this with the world. Hagenbuch.org was launched in October of that year, four years after the genealogy bug had bitten me and 50 years since my father had walked with Uncle Perce among our ancestors at the Oak Grove Lutheran Church cemetery.

So much has happened since 2014, not only with the development of this site and its articles, but also within our family. My parents became grandparents in 2016 and now have five grandchildren. My wife, Sara, and I returned to Pennsylvania in 2017 and, after that, our sons William and Henry were born. Becoming a father further cemented my interest in genealogy and showed me the importance of nurturing a family. It also helped me to understand how this site might inspire my children, similar to how my father’s research inspired me. Together, we carry the torch forward, recording our family’s history and creating an invaluable resource for future generations.

One event that cannot be omitted was when my father was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2016. He was given five years to live. Hagenbuch.org was less than two years old then, and the future of the young project appeared in jeopardy. Yet, my father pushed ahead. Buoyed by his family, faith, and personal strength, he kept going. It’s been over eight years since my father received his diagnosis; and while the cancer and treatments have taken an incalculable toll on his body, he is still writing articles, still sharing stories, and still here with us.

The cemetery at the Hagenbuch Homestead was entirely cleaned by 2017

With that said, my father and I know that just as our family’s story is ever changing so too is Hagenbuch.org. We have now written and published over 520 articles. Each one is well considered and researched. Although, as my father pointed out in his last piece, our knowledge of this family has grown and evolved over the last decade. We know more today than we did in 2014, meaning that some of our earliest articles contain inaccuracies.

For instance, a few years ago we received an inquiry from a relative about the birthdate of Andreas Hagenbuch’s eldest son, Henry. The relative questioned why we stated this was 1737, when their source indicated it was 1736. I responded asking for the source in question and, to my surprise, received a link to a 2015 article on Hagenbuch.org that I had written! At that point, I knew we had a problem. Some of our earliest research was outdated and confusing readers. We were going to have to go back and correct the record.

Looking ahead, our plan for this site is the following: We will continue to share an article each week here and on Facebook. We will also carry on with publishing a monthly email newsletter. However, sometimes the articles we share will be previous pieces that have been updated, corrected, and revised with new information. We plan to focus more of our efforts on Beechroots, entering new names, dates, and details for our ancestors. Finally, we hope to better organize Hagenbuch.org, creating finding guides for content topics such as our family’s immigration to America, the Hagenbuch Homestead, and others.

Like my father, I am passionate about telling stories, preserving the past, and researching our family. Regardless of what the future holds, we will continue to make this site a place for our family to connect and share everything that makes it unique. We sincerely look forward to making the next decade as interesting and productive as the last.

Cemetery at the Hagenbuch Homestead after the grass was cut in 2024