For Posterity: Moving the Hagenbuch Archives

The Hagenbuch Archives are a repository of photographs, documents, genealogy books, newspaper clippings, letters, and other ephemera related to our Hagenbuch family. They were begun by my late father, Mark, in the 1970s and expanded upon in the subsequent decades. They include a number of collections such as photos from Ethel Bibby (b. 1909), letters sent by Timothy Hagenbuch (b. 1804), and slides captured by Irene (Hagenbuch) Faus (b. 1920).

For the last decade, the Hagenbuch Archives have resided in a few desks in the front room at my parents’ house. These desks were, at first glance, neatly organized. However, just inside was a mess of photographs and papers. Over the years, my father would try to organize the Archives, with limited success. Still, the process of going through them yielded numerous, interesting articles on this site.

Hoosier desk and roll top desk in the Hagenbuch Archives at their original location in Dillsburg, PA

Before he died in 2025, my father and I discussed how I would eventually take ownership of the Hagenbuch Archives and move them to my home. Earlier this month, that process began in earnest when my mother emptied the front room desks and packed their contents into boxes. I made plans to pickup the boxes and traveled to Dillsburg, Pennsylvania with my sons, William and Henry. There, with the help of my good friend, Nathan Hoover, we loaded around 25 boxes from the Archives into my truck and drove them to where I live in Yardley, PA.

Presently, the Hagenbuch Archives lack a permanent home in my house, and they are stacked in a pile in my front room. The plan is to move them to the third floor, where they can be stored alongside other family archives, such as the old video tapes I worked to digitized. Once there, I hope to explore, organize, and catalog them. Ultimately, my goal is to digitize these archives and share them online with our broader family.

The Hagenbuch Archives in boxes. In the upper right corner is a suitcase used by Roy A. Gutshall Jr. in the 1940s while attending Susquehanna University

Since the Archives are in plain view within our house, my sons have taken an interest in them, inquiring what is in each box. Actually, not everything is in a box, and the other night we pulled down an old suitcase to look inside. The suitcase was covered with three stickers from Susquehanna University and one from Bucknell University.

As with most items in the Hagenbuch Archives, this suitcase has a story. It was once used by my maternal grandfather, Roy A. Gutshall Jr. (b. 1920) when he traveled from Mechanicsburg, PA to Selinsgrove, PA—where he attended Susquehanna University from 1940 to 1944. Occasionally, he even hitchhiked to school with the suitcase in hand! According to my mother, Linda (Gutshall) Hagenbuch, she remembers playing with her father’s old suitcase as child.

Roy A. Gutshall, Jr. in 1944

When William, Henry, and I opened the suitcase, we found nine items inside, placed there by my father. These were:

1. Birth and baptism document for Catherina Messerschmidt, who was born to Jacob Messerschmidt (b. 1800) and Barbara (Miller) Messerschmidt (b. 1797) on September 28, 1827.
2. Birth and baptism document for Joseph William Lindner, who was born to Israel Lindner and Catherina (Messerschmidt) Lindner (b. 1827) on March 27, 1859.
3. Confirmation certificate for Hiram Hagenbuch (b. 1847) from May 4, 1867.
4. Confirmation certificate for Mary Ann Lindner (b. 1853) from May 4, 1867.
5. Marriage certificate for Hiram Hagenbuch (b. 1847) and Mary Ann Lindner (b. 1853) who wed on June 12, 1872.
6. Birth and baptism document for Henry Bruce Hagenbuch, who was born to Hiram Hagenbuch (b. 1847) and Mary Ann (Lindner) Hagenbuch (b. 1853) on November 19, 1875.
7. Birth and baptism document for Mary Ann Lindner Hagenbuch, who was born to to Hiram Hagenbuch (b. 1847) and Mary Ann (Lindner) Hagenbuch (b. 1853) on August 3, 1892.
8. Empty 10 lbs. bag of white daisy pastry flour from Zechman’s Flour Mills in Pottsgrove, PA.
9. Sketch of a house, initialed with “RHH.”

Nine items found within a suitcase in the Hagenbuch Archives

All of these items, except the suitcase they were stored in, appear to share one thing in common—they are related to the family of Hiram and Mary Ann (Lindner) Hagenbuch. Catherina Messerschmidt was Mary Ann’s mother and Joseph William was her younger brother. Sadly, Joseph died young at the age of four.

By the mid-1860s, the families of Hiram and Mary Ann were attending the same church, Oak Grove Lutheran in Montour County, PA. Both were confirmed there in 1867, before falling in love and marrying in 1872. Their daughter, Mary Ann—who was named for her mother—was born in 1892 and died young at the age of three.

Marriage certificate for Hiram Hagenbuch and Mary Ann Lindner, 1872

In total, Hiram and Mary Ann had 12 children. Their son, Franklin Walter Hagenbuch (b. 1890), married Pearl Viola Steinman (b. 1893). After Franklin died in 1930, Pearl married John Zechman. John was probably related to the owners of Zechman’s Flour Mill, connecting the flour bag to this family too. Finally, there is the sketch of the house. The initials RHH could refer to Hiram and Mary Ann’s grandson, Roy Harold Hagenbuch (b. 1916), or Roy’s son, Roger Harold Hagenbuch (b. 1951).

Drawing of a house by “RHH”

Looking at these nine items, it’s clear that the Hagenbuch Archives are a rich source of family information. Each box contains numerous artifacts that hold countless stories from the past. As I prepared to move the archives and loaded them into the truck, one box caught my eye. It was labeled “For Posterity” and contained several carousels of slides.

Indeed, the Hagenbuch Archives are for posterity—a gift for future generations.