Tagged: Ethel “Brandt” Gutshall

Harrises Hidlay 1939 1

The Harrises of Hidlay: Part 2

It’s sometimes difficult for me to remember how I got started on some of my genealogical work from decades ago. I know that I did very little work on other branches of the family...

Mock Shotgun Wedding Hidlay Church PA 1948 Detail 0

Mock Shotgun Weddings

As my father wrote about last week, we recently received a collection of photographs from the Harris family. The Harrises intermarried with the Hagenbuchs and the two families attended Hidlay Lutheran Church in Columbia...

Wreath Clarence and Hannah (Sechler) Hagenbuch Grave 0

Wreaths of Remembrance

As Christmas approaches, each year for the past several years my wife, Linda, has made evergreen wreaths to give to friends, to hang outside at our abode, and to place on relatives’ gravesites. These...

1950 Census Enumerator Virginia Detail 4

First Thoughts on the 1950 Census

April 1, 2022 marked an important occasion for genealogists—and, no, it had nothing to do with April Fools’ Day! On this day, family historians celebrated the release of the 1950 United States Census records,...

Barb, Bob, David, Mark Hagenbuch 2009 2

Distinguishing Features

“Ahh, she looks just like Uncle Joe!” “No, she doesn’t. But she has her mother’s nose.” “Well, I think she looks just her Daddy’s picture when he was born. Look at those eyes and...

Lydia (Hagenbuch) Stahl 2

Mother’s Day: May 10, 2020

The first Mother’s Day was celebrated in 1908. It was initiated by Anna Jarvis as a memorial to her mother in Grafton, West Virginia at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church. A campaign was started to...

Ham, Beans, Potatoes 2

Family Foods

What foods conjure memories of your family past and present? A few weeks ago, while planning a trip to my parents’ house, I asked if they had any favorite dishes that their parents used...

Roy and Mary Pearl Gutshall, 1918 Detail 0

Cousins Around the Corner

We went to my wife Linda’s 50th High School reunion at Greencastle, Pennsylvania a few weeks ago. Greencastle has a different way of scheduling their school reunions. The reunions coincide with the town’s Old...

Santa Ornaments Detail 1

Christmas Ornaments

The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree during the Christmas season is believed to have started in Germany during the 1500s. Our early Hagenbuch ancestors certainly knew and practiced this custom before coming to...

Oma & Nana Afghans Detail 0

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...