The House That Hiram Hagenbuch Built
Ever since first seeing the house on the hill in June of 2015, I have been obsessed. Obsessed in wondering what it was like for my great grandparents and their passel of children to...
Author: Mark Hagenbuch
The Deaths of a Father and Son
I have been inside the house on the hill twice. It overlooks the Susquehanna River. Both times, as I walked through the first floor rooms, up the two stairways, through the hallways, and into...
Kathryn’s Book
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m in possession of many historical items that belonged to the Hagenbuchs and other related families. Andrew and I continue to collect items. These include: a privy bottle, a fraktur,...
Kissin’ Cousins
Well I’ve got a gal, she’s as cute as she can be. She’s a distant cousin but she’s not too distant with me. We’ll kiss all night. I’ll squeeze her tight. But we’re kissin’...
Seventh Cousins
In late December 2017, Linda and I drove to Freeport, Maine to visit with our daughter, Katie (Hagenbuch) Emig, her husband Nelson, and our granddaughter Hadley. North of there—in Bath, Maine—live Jim and Sally...
Ellen Hagenbuch: Photographer
My Aunt Ellen died last February, 2018. The article Last of Their Generation described her life as a lover of family, flowers, and photography. After her death, her niece and nephew (my first cousins),...
The Privy Bottle, Part 2
This article is the second part in a series. The first part may be read here. After purchasing the privy bottle on eBay, it was taken to a bottle expert—Harry M.—who has collected thousands...
The Privy Bottle, Part 1
This two-part article tells the fictional story and true facts about a bottle recently discovered in a privy in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. The year was 1875. Mr. Smith, from Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, had taken the train...
The Sauerkraut Diaries
On January 2, 2018, I wrote an article about New Year’s Day memories from the early 1900s. Some of these remembrances were gleaned from the diary entries of my mother, Irene (Faus) Hagenbuch. Of...
The School Christmas Program
In 2014, I wrote about my memories of Christmas at our family church, Oak Grove, when I was a young boy. Though not quite as vivid, I also have some memories of when I...
