Family Folklore and the Tale of Hungry Sam Miller
Genealogists deal with more than names, places, and dates. They must also attempt to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the ever told family stories. I am always careful who I tell...
This Week's Article From the Beech Grove
“Anna’s Crossing” with Hagenbuchs on the Charming Nancy
If primary sources and historical documents are too dry for you, but you still want to read about ocean travel during the 18th century, give Anna’s Crossing by Suzanne Woods Fisher a try. This...
A Picture’s Worth: Butchering Day Redux
“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an oft-heard phrase first coined in 1911 by newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane. In the article Butchering Day Memories From the Farm – Part 1, I mentioned...
Hagenbuch Coat of Arms
The Hagenbuch family has a unique coat of arms which even now is still used by the town of Hagenbuch in Switzerland. The coat of arms depicts a single beech tree surrounded by a...
A Boy Becomes a Genealogist
Most of my immediate family have heard the story of how I became interested in Hagenbuch genealogy and subsequently collected thousands of names, dates, and artifacts. One certainly has to be interested in history...
Hagenbuchs Face Danger on Pennsylvania’s Frontier
It’s difficult to imagine the hardships faced by Andreas Hagenbuch and his family family upon their arrival in Pennsylvania in 1737. Outside of cities like Philadelphia, there were few amenities or protections. Frontier areas...
Sarah Foust: School Teacher in the Early 1900s
On November 1, 1984 Ethel Lillian Bibby, aged 75 years old, died in a nursing home in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Unmarried, few of her immediate family were still living. Mark Hagenbuch, Ethel’s 2nd cousin once...
Grape-Nut Ice Cream: a Hagenbuch Family Favorite
The Hagenbuch family in Pennsylvania has a reputation for making homemade ice cream. For several generations, it’s been a part of our family visits and gatherings. Out of all the possible flavors, one is...
Butchering Day Memories from the Farm, Part 2
This article is a continuation of last week’s Butchering Day Memories from the Farm. In it, we got started with the pig butchering process: killing the hog, sticking it to bleed it out, scalding...
Butchering Day Memories from the Farm, Part 1
Last Tuesday was Fastnacht Day here in our part of Pennsylvania. In our Montour County household we called it Doughnut Day. It wasn’t until I moved to York County thirty years ago that I...
