O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
You may be reading this the day after Christmas. Most people are still surrounded by some wrapping paper scraps, gifts sticking out of boxes, and the many, many decorations that adorn most houses at...
Category: Family
Our Family’s First Christmas Gift in America
The further we go back in time, the more difficult it is to tell the story of our Hagenbuch family. Precious little information remains from early 1700s when our ancestor, Andreas Hagenbuch (b. 1715),...
Tell Them the Story
As a warning to our readers, this article describes a suicide in the early 20th century. While writing my last article about November dates, I was looking through the photo archives for images of...
Hagenbuch’s Meat Market of Bowmanstown
I’m always amazed by the family-related ephemera that appears on eBay: an old family photo, a receipt printer, and a Fraktur to name a few. Recently I found another curious item—a small, promotional screwdriver....
Remember, Remember, the Days of November
Recently, Linda and I attended a birthday party for our four-year-old grandson, William. Not long after this, we were treated to a birthday meal for my nephew, Tom Huffman, who was born on November...
Family Thanksgiving News of Yore
With Thanksgiving almost upon us, I began to wonder about what news I might find about Hagenbuchs celebrating the holiday during earlier times. What I found did not disappoint and even led to the...
The Family of Michael Hagenbaugh: My First Cousin (Four Times Removed)
Four generations before me, my great great grandfather William Hagenbuch (b. 1807) had a first cousin named Michael (b. 1815) who changed his last name to “Hagenbaugh.” William and Michael had fathers who were...
A Buch In the Hand is Worth More In a Bush
I have taken some liberty with an oft-used phrase about birds in hands and bushes. If it caught your eye, then it did its job! We know that our last name is pronounced and...
An Alarming History: Children and the Dangers of Fire
“Don’t play with fire!” What child hasn’t heard this phrase? Growing up, I know I did—especially when staying at the family cabin or on a Boy Scout camping trip. Back then, I didn’t really...
Reapin’, Bindin’, and Thrashin’ with Myron and Harold
Readers may wonder how Andrew and I select topics for our articles. In my case, I usually run across or search for something in our family history that is interesting: a curious situation, a...
