The Michigan Unknowns Are Identified!

As I prepared to write this article, I was reminded of the Bible parable of the shepherd and the lost lamb. The shepherd searched and searched until the lamb was found. He did not give up. I feel that way with our latest find: the Mark S. Hagenbuch family from Three Rivers, Michigan. I mentioned this hunt a few weeks ago, knowing that there was a Hagenbuch family in Michigan who Andrew and I did not have linked into our tree. It goes to show that there are always more Hagenbuchs and related family members out there to research and, as the shepherd did, bring into the fold!

Up until March of this year, I thought we had tracked down and identified most of our Michigan Hagenbuchs. They are descended from Andrew Hagenbuch’s (b. 1785) son, Aaron (b. 1810) and Andrew’s great great grandson, Charles Raymond (b. 1894). Aaron headed to Michigan in 1839, and Charles relocated there as a young man in the early 1900s. In March, we received a message from a Tom Wells, who had been reading some of our articles. Tom asked if we knew of an Andrew (or Andy) Hagenbuch who went to Western Michigan University with him. Neither of us could find this Andrew in our records so we did some digging and found Andrew Craig Hagenbuch born about 1954 living in Three Rivers, Michigan. I went to Facebook and along with my son, Andrew, found several other Hagenbuchs who were not in our records, notably a Mark Hagenbuch who seemed to be my age!

Ad placed by Aaron Hagenbuch in The Columbia Democrat, August 10, 1839. Credit: Library of Congress

I tried contacting Mark from Michigan and his wife Louann, plus other Hagenbuchs who were associated with them on Facebook. They were unfamiliar to me, and I couldn’t identify any of their crew. After a few weeks of checking back and forth, I finally received reply from Mark Steven Hagenbuch of Three Rivers, MI who is indeed my age!

After a “get to know you” conversation on the telephone last week, I was thrilled to link Mark’s family into the rest of our large, Hagenbuch tree. I found how they were related through a group I had researched years ago. Unfortunately, my documents ended with Mark’s grandfather, James Peter Hagenbuch (b. 1889, d. 1962). A flurry of activity followed with me peppering Mark for information (e.g., names, dates, and places) and photos of his family. Using the information he gave me, I was able to finally find his family in the United States census and in Findagrave records. As I told Mark on the phone, “You have made my day or probably month! It’s so exciting to find Hagenbuchs out there who we don’t have recorded, then add them to the thousands of family members who we know from the 1500s to present!”

As I mentioned earlier, the break in our information occurred with Mark’s grandfather, James Peter (b. 1889), who I stopped gathering information on several years ago. I don’t know why this occurred. However, I believe I had hit a slight roadblock and moved on to researching another family. Mark’s ancestral line from Andreas is: Andreas (b. 1715) > Michael (b. 1746) > Andrew (b. 1785) > Aaron (b. 1810) > Frederick Aaron (b. 1844) > James Peter (b. 1889) > Robert Frank (b. 1921) > Mark Steven (b. 1953). As I emailed to Mark the other day, he and I are 5th cousins. We share the same 4th great grandfather, Michael (b. 1746).

Robert Frank Hagenbuch (b. 1921) in his high school graduation picture, c. 1939

Mark’s great grandfather, Frederick Aaron (b. 1844, d. 1910), was married twice and was father to eight children: six to his first wife Louisa Bungay (b. 1848, d. 1882) and two to his second wife, Ardell Richards (b. 1856, d. unknown). Mark’s grandfather, James Peter (b. 1889) was born to Frederick and his second wife, Ardell.

James Peter Hagenbuch was married twice as well—first to Fannie Pearce from 1917 to 1919, whom he divorced, and second to Blanche Meyers in 1920. From the second marriage there are five children: James Peter Jr. (b. 1920, d. 2004), Robert Frank (b. 1921, d. 1986)—he is Mark’s father, Betty Jane (b. 1924, d. 1989, m. Walter Quirk), Richard K. (b. 1924, d. 2000), and Donald Franklin (b. 1928, d. 1996).

According to the 1920 census, James was working on marine engines and lived with his mother, Ardell, and his cousin, Paul, in Three Rivers, MI. This was right before James married Blanche Meyers. The 1930 census shows James, his second wife Blanche, and their five children were living on West Michigan Avenue in Three Rivers. In that year, James’ occupation was listed as “trucking.” He and Blanche are buried at Riverside Cemetery, Three Rivers, MI.

Robert Frank and Harriet (Smith) Hagenbuch with their children (L to R): Andrew, Hilarie, Mark, Peter, and Roberta (in Robert’s arms), c. 1959

Mark’s father, Robert Frank, married Harriet Smith in 1944. In 1950, Robert was working as a petroleum distributor and living at 412 Garden Street in Three Rivers with his wife, Harriet, and a child, Thomas. Robert died in 1986 and is buried with Harriet at Riverside Cemetery in Three Rivers. Ultimately, Robert and Harriet had five children together: Thomas Peter (b. 1948, m. Nancy Fry in 1987), Mark Steven (b. 1953, m. Louann Pierson in 1976), Andrew Craig (b. 1954), Hilarie (b. 1956, m. Frank Thompson in 1977); and Roberta (b. 1957).

After talking with Mark for the first time, I asked him to fill in the blanks with the information about his siblings and children, as well as to send some photos. This was a monumental task to fulfill, as I only had about a week to put all the information together into this article. Well, he came through in fine form! Yet, there are still plenty of details remaining for me to gather on his group, including family history before Mark, facts about his parents, and interesting information about other relatives.

Siblings Andrew, Roberta, Peter, Hilarie, and Mark

One thing we should all know is that Mark served in the U.S. Army between 1973 and 1975. He attended college and worked at the White Pigeon Paper company for 44 years. His wife, Louann, also attended college and is an LPN. She worked in the Three Rivers Hospital Emergency Room until her retirement in 2016. Similar to many of us Hagenbuchs, Mark and Louann have fascinating interests and hobbies.

There is always more to discover and write about concerning our family. While my Hagenbuch clan stayed in Pennsylvania and resided in Columbia and Montour Counties, Mark’s family moved west with the waves of Hagenbuch migration. His group became one of several prominent Michigan families. Thanks to Mark and Louann for all your quick help and information. More is to come!