Preserving Family History Through Obituaries
Genealogists use a lot of resources to ply their craft. Andrew and I have written a lot about this—how we use the census, grave records, death certificates, oral histories, and many other sources. One...
Category: Family
Homer Hagenbuch’s Scrapbook, Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, details about the different types of ephemera found in the scrapbook of Homer Hagenbuch (b. 1916) were discussed. His mother, Hannah, and his sister, Ellen, were instrumental in...
1950s Summer Vacations at the Shore, Part 2
As with so many family experiences, vacations can create lasting memories that stick with us throughout a lifetime. In the first part of this series, Norma Kay (Penman) Hurter shared photographs from several trips...
Homer Hagenbuch’s Scrapbook, Part 1
Sometime before 2005 my father, Homer Hagenbuch’s (b. 1916), sister, Ellen Hagenbuch (b. 1926), presented him with a scrapbook filled with a few photos, lots of newspaper clippings, and several old postcards that their...
1950s Summer Vacations at the Shore, Part 1
Summer vacations have long been popular with American families—and the Hagenbuchs are no exception. At the 75th Hagenbuch Reunion, I had the pleasure of chatting with Norma Kay (Penman) Hurter. Her grandfather is Andrew...
We Are Not Alone (And We Never Were)
We are not alone. It sounds like something out of E.T. or The X Files. Yet, I’ve been thinking a lot about this phrase and how we, as Hagenbuchs, fit into the bigger picture...
Contacts: 1, 2, 3
After the 75th Hagenbuch Reunion, I was thinking about some of the contacts that Andrew and I have had over the years. The phrase “3, 2, 1, Contact” came to mind which was the...
Life as a Lady Physician: Dr. Phoebe H. Flagler Hagenbuch
Prior to the 20th century, it was rare to encounter a female medical doctor. In fact, according to the University of Alabama, only about 5.5% of all American physicians were women in the year...
James H. Hagenbuch’s D-Day Uniform
I just can’t get James “Jimmy” H. Hagenbuch out of my mind. Since first writing about this cousin who parachuted behind enemy lines on June 6, 1944 as a soldier in the 101st Airborne...
The Wiz at the Hagenbuch Motor Company
A few weeks ago, I noticed an interesting family artifact appear on eBay. It was a cast iron receipt register from the 1920s, branded as “The Wiz.” Inside the device was an old receipt...
