Finding the Hagenbuchs of Birdsboro

In January of 2023, we received a message from Joy Nairn inquiring about her Reichelderfer ancestors.

The Reicheldersfers were neighbors of the Hagenbuchs in Albany Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, and they lived at the base of Hawk Mountain in present-day Eckville. On February 6, 1756, Lenape warriors burned the house and stable of Frederick Reichelderfer (b. unknown, d. 1759), then shot two of his children. One was found dead in a field, while the other was rushed to the home of Andreas Hagenbuch (b. 1715, d. 1785) and died there a few hours later.

Most of the Frederick Reichelderfer family survived the attack, including his son John Adam Reichelderfer (b. 1741, d. 1810) who eventually married Anna Elizabeth Hagenbuch (b. 1754, d. 1825). She was the daughter of Andreas Hagenbuch, and her beautiful Taufschein is a prized artifact within the Hagenbuch Archives.

Joy concluded her message by describing that she had grown up in Birdsboro, PA where she had known two Hagenbuch girls, Sheila and Roxanne. She believed their mother was divorced from a Hagenbuch and had remarried a Bucci. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any other information about their family—much to the frustration of my father, Mark, and I. Who were these Hagenbuchs and what family line were they from? I began to see what I could find.

Gravestone of Doris (Moyer) Bucci, Fletcher. Credit: Findagrave.com/Susan Surran

Within a few hours of searching, I successfully tracked down Sheila and Roxanne’s mother, Doris Janice (Moyer). Her 2016 obituary included both of her daughters’ names and mentioned that she had lived in Birdsboro. The obituary also described how Doris has been married twice: first to Nicholas W. Bucci, who died in 1973, and later to Stacy “Bud” G. Fletcher Jr., who died in 2016 just a few weeks after Doris. Yet, there was no mention of her marrying the Hagenbuch who was the father of Sheila and Roxanne.

Over the next two years—yes, two years—I kept Joy’s message flagged in my email inbox. From time to time, I would return to it, conduct a few searches, and come up empty handed. I really wanted to figure out how these Hagenbuchs were related, but time and luck weren’t on my side. A few weeks ago, I sat down and was determined to figure it out. This time, I had success.

The breakthrough occurred when looking for Doris in online newspaper archives. As mentioned earlier, I suspected that she had been married to a Hagenbuch before Nicholas Bucci. Sure enough, I found a wedding announcement that was published on March 1, 1949 in the The Mercury newspaper of Pottstown, PA. According to the piece, Doris J. Moyer married Marvin Hagenbuch on February 28, 1949 in Elkton, Maryland. The couple was “unattended” suggesting that they eloped. Marvin’s father was listed as Marvin Hagenbuch Sr. of Royersford, PA.

Wedding announcement for Marvin Hagenbuch and Doris Moyer from 1949. Credit: The Mercury newspaper

Using the facts from the wedding announcement, I was able to research any Marvin Hagenbuchs who lived in Royersford in the mid-1900s. On the 1940 census, I found one: Marvin LeRoy Hagenbuch (b. 1899) who was married to Ida Theresa Hallman (b. 1899). The census revealed that the couple had five children: Paul, Lottie, Rosie, Erma, and Marvin. This looked promising. The 1950 census confirmed that I was on the right track. It showed that Marvin and Ida’s youngest son, Marvin, was living in the same house as them and was now married to Doris. The couple also had a newborn daughter, Sheila K., who was born in March of 1950.

Finally, I had enough information to connect sisters Sheila and Roxanne Hagenbuch onto our family tree. In 1949, their mother, Doris Janice Moyer (b. 1930), married Marvin John Hagenbuch (b. 1931). Marvin’s father was Marvin LeRoy Hagenbuch (b. 1899). He was not technically a “senior” as stated in the wedding announcement, since father and son had different middle names. Marvin LeRoy was already in Beechroots, so the rest was easy. Sheila and Roxanne’s Hagenbuch family line is as follows: Andreas (b. 1715) > Henry I (b. 1737) > Henry II (b. 1786) > Joseph (b. 1811) > Andrew J. (b. 1852) > Lovine J. (b. 1875) > Marvin LeRoy (b. 1899) > Marvin John (b. 1931) > Sheila K. (m. David Nichols) and Roxanne R. (m. Robert Smith).

Gravestone of twin brothers Winford and Clifford Hagenbuch. Credit: Findagrave.com/Tom Myers

Doris and Marvin must have divorced in the late 1950s, and both were remarried several times after this. Doris died on February 8, 2016 and is buried with her second husband, Nicholas Bucci, in Birdsboro, PA. Marvin died on May 6, 2021 in Cape Coral, Florida. His final resting place is unknown. One final interesting fact about this family is that Marvin had two older brothers, twins, who were born prematurely and died several weeks after birth. Their names were Winford and Clifford, and they were born on February 20, 1924. Curiously, their gravestone incorrectly shows that they were born in 1925.

Genealogy requires time and patience. While some names can be quickly placed upon our family tree, others take months or even years to research. Multiple marriages, name changes, and other major life events further complicate the process of discovery. Thanks to an obituary and a newspaper wedding announcement, we can now place Marvin J. Hagenbuch, Doris J. Moyer, and their two daughters, Sheila and Roxanne, in our growing database of Hagenbuch relatives.