Preserving Memories in a Digital Age
Is it possible to save memories using digital media so they exist for future generations? My father, Mark, and I continue to grapple with this question, as we seek to archive centuries of Hagenbuch...
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Book Review: “Washingtonville: Taking a Step Back in Time”
Be prepared, readers, to enter a world of memories and recollections that I possess about the village of Washingtonville. This town helped to form my childhood identity, and my friend and author, John Marr,...
Seven Cemeteries in One Day, Part 1
When I was young, my family didn’t go on outings to the circus or trips to Disneyland. We couldn’t afford them. Instead, we stayed in our small rural West Texas town, and my parents...
My Great Great Aunts, Sarah and Eliza: a Mystery or Not?
Andrew and I often deal with mysteries. Facts—such as the names, dates and places we often reference—are solid material. But, it’s the personal details of one’s life, often the unknown, that make my creative...
Dutch Butter Cake with Some Digital Nostalgia
What were you doing the summer of 2020? Personally, I hadn’t thought much about it. Then, a week ago I started browsing through some images in my digital archive. Many of these are photos...
How It Begins
The other day my eldest son, William, pointed to a photograph hanging on the wall and asked, “Daddy, what is this picture of?” The photo he was referencing was taken during the summer of...
Every “Thing” Has a Story!
I have been thinking about this article for a few weeks. It is what I would call an opinion piece or maybe better—ramblings! Lately, due to some less-than-good news about my prostate cancer, I...
The Letter Archives
I like writing letters and receiving letters. It’s a shame that we’ve lost the art of letter-writing and saving correspondence. –Elizabeth McGovern, actress in Downton Abbey. Andrew and I often refer to the Hagenbuch...
DNA, Genealogy, and Our Search for Identity
A few weeks ago, I read a story about a man who suspected that he was not the father of his daughter. The little girl had brown eyes, when both parents had blue eyes....
Eight Years On
I felt somewhat dismayed as I sat down to write this year’s retrospective of Hagenbuch.org. In the previous 12 months, only 300 names have been added to Beechroots, our database of family records. Last...
