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...
Category: History
Henry Hagenbuch’s Bridge Over The Lehigh River
So often in genealogy, researching one family or topic will lead to unintended discoveries. Such was the case when I stumbled upon a mention of Henry Hagenbuch’s venture to build a bridge over the...
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...
California, Here We Come!
Back in 1979 when I was attempting to contact every Hagenbuch I could through snail mail, I received information from Robert L. Hagenbaugh (b. 1921) from Springville, California. Robert (as previously written in the...
Mystery Solved: The Missing Hagenbuch Gravestones
This article is the second part in a series documenting a visit to the Hagenbuch homestead in October of 2018. The first part can be read here. After finishing our lunch at the Deitsch...
A Visit to the Hagenbuch Homestead
Several weeks ago, I visited the Hagenbuch homestead in Berks County, Pennsylvania along with my father, mother, and wife. The purpose of our visit was to explore the buildings at the homestead, as well...
Charles C. Hagenbuch and Dr. Jayne’s Sanative Pills
A few months ago, I found a vintage trade card on eBay, dating from around 1880. Trade cards were an early form of printed advertisement. One side of the card would include an image,...
Seeing Double: The Hagenbuch Twins of 1792
Several years ago, while researching family history, I stumbled upon a typed list of births and baptisms from Zion Stone Church in Kreidersville, Pennsylvania. The list had been compiled by the Dreisbach Family Association...
The Mystery of Tillie and Elias Reichard
Matilda “Tillie” Hagenbuch was born on October 20, 1849 in Columbia County, PA and was the daughter of William (b. 1807) and Rebecca (Muffly) Hagenbuch. Tillie was married to Elias Reichard and is buried...
Locating Christian Hagenbuch’s House and Distillery
In 2016, I stumbled upon the plans for Christian Hagenbuch’s (b. 1747, d. 1812) house within the Joseph Downs Collection at the Winterthur Library. The plans were drafted in 1783, and I suspected that...
