New Year’s Day: The Importance of Days
Is there an importance to having New Year’s Day as a significant day in our legacy?
It would take hours to sift through Beechroots to find our ancestors that were born exactly on January 1st in any year. After several hours of looking, I only found one: Olive A. Newcomer. Recorded in the family history of Enoch Hagenbuch (b. 1814), Olive was born on January 1, 1874 to Jacob Newcomer (b. 1840) and Sarah (Hagenbuch) Newcomer (b. 1845). Sadly, she died as an infant.
Given the celebrations on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, I have come to the conclusion that few people would wish to be born on these days, since their birthday would be overshadowed by the holiday. One of our relatives who was born just after January 1st was Alberta June (Wiley) Hagenbuch. She was born on January 6, 1934. Alberta was married to Frank “Corky” George Hagenbuch Jr. in 1953. They had four children: Lori (b.1955), Lynn (b. 1957), Larry (b. 1959), and Lyle (b. 1962). As of 2020 Alberta was living in Holton, Kansas with husband, Frank.
Alberta June Wiley from her high school yearbook, 1951
Frank comes from the long line of Hagenbuchs hailing from Andreas’ eldest son, Henry (b. 1737, d. 1805), who owned the Cross Keys Tavern in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Several articles have been written about this group that included a number of businessmen. Frank’s line is: Andreas (b. 1715, d. 1737) > Henry (b. 1737, d. 1805) > Jacob (b. 1765, d. 1811) > George (b. 1833, d. 1904) > Jacob B. (b. 1855, d. 1894) > Frank Sr. (b. 1889, d. 1965) > Frank Jr. (b. 1930, 2005) who married Alberta Wiley. Happy birthday, Alberta!
Although not a Hagenbuch, a simple story has come down through genealogy about Annie Margaret Sechler. “Aunt” Annie was born on January 17, 1853. Her parents were Thomas Sechler (b. 1819, d. 1894) and Christiana J. (Henry) Sechler (b. 1828, d. 1887). Thomas was the great uncle of Harold Sechler (b. 1923, d. 2018) and has had several articles written about him. Harold would tell the story that a shotgun could be fired next to Aunt Annie and she would have never flinched. It would have been a nasty trick to have shouted “happy birthday” next to her, let alone the blast of a firearm!
Turning to a male member of our Hagenbuchs is Clyde Watson Hagenbuch who was born on January 20, 1920 in Montour County, PA and who died on February 24, 2012. Clyde was a first cousin to my father, Homer (b. 1916), and was a regularly attending member at our family church, Oak Grove Lutheran. His genealogical line was: Andreas (b. 1715, d. 1785) > Michael (b. 1746, d. 1809) > Henry (b. 1772, d. 1850) > William (b. 1807, d. 1879) > Hiram Sr. (b. 1847, d. 1897) > Hiram “Harry” Jr. (b. 1886, d. 1879) > Clyde (b. 1920, d. 2012). He was married to Jean Ulrich and they had three children, all living and readers of Hagenbuch.org: Cathy married to Kit Kelly, Carey married to Crystal Kremer, and Craig married to Angela Milewski. Happy heavenly birthday to Clyde!
Gravestone for Jacob Hagenbuch (b. 1777) at the Hagenbuch Homestead cemetery
Perhaps we should explore one of the claims to fame of Jacob Hagenbuch (b. 1777, d. 1842), the grandson of Andreas whose grave is found at the Hagenbuch homestead cemetery. His gravestone was hoisted from the ground with amazement one afternoon after a labor of digging and pulling. Several years ago, I was working with the Berks County Graveyard Association to clean up the cemetery when we found the top of a stone. Using some interesting means, we determined that it was rounded and probably a gravestone. Sure enough, as we dug deeper, we found that there were some inscriptions on it.
When the large stone was revealed, we could see numerals and letters. It was the grave marker of a relative! Scraping off the soil, we could identify whose it was, not by the birth date of 1777, but by the death date of 1842. It was Jacob Hagenbuch, who had died in January 8th of that year. This raises the question: Is a person’s death date as important as their birth date? For identification purposes, the answer is a resounding “Yes!”
Grossgartach, Germany in 1684 by by Andreas Kieser. Credit: Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg
Let’s take a leap back further in time. Andreas’ father, Hans Michael Hagenbuch, supposedly died in the German town our family emigrated from—Grossgartach, Baden-Württemberg—on January 16, 1735. This death left Andreas and his four known siblings as orphans. Hans Michael was born in 1685, and it is possible that he was buried, along with his first wife Anna Christina (Fritz) Hagenbuch (b. 1692, d. 1727), in that locale. It has always been my desire to research other relatives who died during that time period to see if there was plague or a disease that led to their demise. Regardless, Hans Michael’s death in January is certainly of importance.
The primary impetus for this article has been to ramble through time to pinpoint some dates in January that may give us joy in remembering the birth of a new soul or pause when memorializing the passing of a relative. Most would agree that forgetting these dates can produce sadness. To lose sight of the past is a great loss to our family.
Ray and Ethel (Volkman) Reichard, 1929. Credit: Findagrave.com/Shaun Creighton
For example, Ethel (Volkman) Reichard was born December 11, 1901 and died January 7, 1983. Ethel would have been mourned on a cold, winter’s day by her son, John, and daughter, Ruth. Ethel is buried in the Dutch Hill Cemetery in Columbia County, PA. She was married in 1923 to John “Ray” Reichard, who preceded her in death in 1963. Ray and Ethel were responsible for managing their large farm, which was full appreciation for farm living. Knowing the story of the Reichard family, I can attest to this fact.
My Hagenbuch family, although beset with the trouble of my own disease, looks ahead to a new year and better times ahead. Happy New Year to you and yours, as we journey into 2025!
