Category: Opinion

Emigrants Crossing The Plains, Albert Bierstadt, 1869 0

A Trip Across America: Family Migrations

The story of the Hagenbuch family in America is one about migrations. From Andreas Hagenbuch leaving Europe for Pennsylvania in the 1700s to Enoch Hagenbuch traveling west in the 1800s, our family has been...

Unknown Couple 0

Do Our Ancestors Matter Today?

Do our ancestors matter today? And, if they really do, why? This was the question I asked myself after a conversation with my maternal grandmother, Ethel “Brandt” Gutshall. Ethel, whom I call “Oma” (German...

Hex Signs Barn Detail 2

On Beech Trees and Dutchiness

For the past year and a half, since Andrew had the idea that our Hagenbuch genealogy should be shared on the Internet through weekly articles, a new awakening has occurred for me. I’ve shared...

Jacob Hagenbuch 1777, 1742 Gravestone Detail 3

Family We Will Never Forget

The other day I heard something that really struck a chord with me. I was listening to an interview with Kevin Kelly, a prolific writer and co-founder of Wired magazine. At the end of...