An Alarming History: Children and the Dangers of Fire
“Don’t play with fire!” What child hasn’t heard this phrase? Growing up, I know I did—especially when staying at the family cabin or on a Boy Scout camping trip. Back then, I didn’t really...
Tagged: Victorian
The Final Request: Samuel Sechler and Mary Davis, Part 5
The March 13, 1880 proposal of marriage from Samuel Sechler to Mary Davis was accepted on April 8 in a letter from Mary to Sam. We do not know what occurred between that date...
Handmade Christmas Cards
For the last decade, my wife Sara and I have made it part of our holiday traditions to handmake some of our own Christmas cards. The first year or two, I found the process...
Homemade Ginger Beer
Before the holidays, I was reading a non-fiction book entitled Life on Muskrat Creek which tells the story of a family homesteading in Wyoming during the early 1900s. One chapter describes a Christmas celebration...
On a Sunday Afternoon
A previous article detailed the family of Hiram b. 1842 and Mary “Orner” Hagenbuch (not to get confused with Hiram Hagenbuch, Sr. b. 1847). The family lived in and around the Montgomery, PA area....
Letters of Samuel and Mary “Davis” Sechler, Part 2
The fifty some pieces of communication mentioned in Part 1 of this series are in a small cardboard box. The letters are divided into two packets wrapped inside the outer sleeves that were once...
