Category: Family

John Hagenbuch 1802 Gravestone 3

The Family of John Hagenbuch, Born 1802

Andrew and I often feature families that are especially interesting, different, or have curious photos attached to them. Yet, so many of our ancestors were simply upstanding citizens with ordinary careers, conventional families, and...

Declaration of Independence in German Detail 2

July of 1776

We have numerous questions about Andreas Hagenbuch, including some about the Revolutionary War service of Andreas’ four sons: Henry (b. 1737), Michael (b. 1746), Christian (b. 1747), and John (b. 1763). These were explored...

Birthday Cake 2

Birthday Celebrations

As Andrew wrote in last week’s article, we often get inspiration for articles from photographs. Fortunately, I started collecting photos from my Montour County, Pennsylvania family when I was very young, and over the...

Margaret Englehart 1895 Detail 1

Hunting for Lost Children

There is little more fulfilling to genealogical work than gazing at 100 plus year old photos of lovely children: their clothing, their innocent expressions, and knowing how they are related to us. Realizing two...

Edna Scales and Benjamin Fifield, 1888 0

The Family Scales

After the article about rescheduling the Hagenbuch Reunion to June of 2022, there were several reader questions about the two children who died within four days of each other. Sarah Scales was born in...

Jacob B. Hagenbuch Gravestone Detail 0

A Letter From Washington

April 27, 2021 Dear Mark: I have to admit that there isn’t much of a chance that a 30 year old address is still valid, but I’m hopeful. As is typical of my age...