Pets on the Family Tree
Most people become attached to their pets and treat them as part of the family. Several years ago when I had some graveyard experts to the family plot in Berks County, the one fellow...
This Week's Article From the Beech Grove
Dating Anna Elizabeth Hagenbuch’s Fraktur
Dating historic documents can be challenging. Indeed, from the moment the Taufschein Fraktur of Anna Elizabeth Hagenbuch (b. 1754, d. 1825) was discovered, there were numerous questions about when it was created. On the...
Howard and Lucile Hagenbuch Family of Aurora, Ohio
In the summer of 1980, wife Linda, my nephew Tommy Huffman, and my niece Melanie Huffman traveled south from Pennsylvania to visit with my brother David Hagenbuch and his family in Georgia before we...
More Family Icons & Their Stories
A little over a year ago my father and site co-founder, Mark Hagenbuch, wrote an article examining the importance of “family icons.” These are objects that are prized by families for the stories attached...
Dear Diary
Along with letters, baptismal certificates, newspaper articles, old histories, and other ephemera, diaries can be a very important part of learning about past generations. Knowing this, when I retired in 2008 I purchased a...
Thoughts on Jacob Hagenbuch’s Estate Inventory
Jacob Hagenbuch died in 1842 at the Hagenbuch homestead in Albany Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. He left no will, forcing a local judge to order that his entire estate be inventoried. The contents of...
Pennsylvania Farm Show Memories
Last week was the 101st Pennsylvania Farm Show held in Harrisburg. If you have never attended this event, you are missing out on an experience that cannot be justly understood through photographs or television....
Inventory of Jacob Hagenbuch’s Estate
Jacob Hagenbuch died in 1842 in Albany Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. He was born in 1777 and inherited the family homestead from his father, Michael Hagenbuch (b. 1746, d. 1809), who had received the...
Exploring Photos from the Bibby-Foust Collection
A previous article discussed photographs from the Tilman and Mary Ann “Hagenbuch” Foust family collected by Ethel Bibby. The Foust family lived in Milton, Pennsylvania. Mary Ann “Hagenbuch” Foust was born in 1842. Her...
Making Jumbles, a Deitsch Cookie Recipe
Cooking together has always been an important activity for Pennsylvania Deitsch families like the Hagenbuchs. This is especially apparent during the Christmas holiday, when candies, cookies, and sweet treats are prepared in order to...
