Hagenbuch Reunion History: 1946

Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus, we had to reschedule the 2020 reunion until next year. A tentative date of June 26, 2021 has been set. This is not unprecedented as the reunion has been cancelled before, during 1943, 1944, and 1945 because of World War II. Let’s take a look at what happened and who attended the 1946 reunion that got my genealogical juices flowing. Secretary Florence (Hagenbuch) Robb compiled the following report.

Florence (Hagenbuch) Robb, 1944. Florence was Secretary of the 1946 Hagenbuch Reunion.

Minutes From the 1946 Hagenbuch Reunion

June 1, 1946: The sixth Hagenbuch Reunion was held at Sunnybrook Park, Danville on June 1st with 62 present. Those in attendance came from Lightstreet, Bloomsburg, Watsontown, Danville, Milton, Turbotville R.D., and Washingtonville.The oldest person present was Mrs. Charles White of Lightstreet, while the youngest person present was Kathryn Viola, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Luther J. Linn of Washingtonville.

After an enjoyable basket lunch was served, the business meeting was conducted by our president Wilmer Reichard. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. There was no old business. The treasurer, Mrs. Herman Bogart, reported a balance of $5.46. In order to meet the payment of the following bills a hat was passed ($16.00). The following bills were ordered paid: advertising, ice cream, spoons, and dishes, $9.90. Bruice Hagenbuch was appointed to order ice cream for our next reunion.

The following officers were elected to serve the coming year: President—W. Paul Roat; Vice President—Percy Hagenbuch; Secretary—Mrs. John R. Robb; Ass’t Secretary—Mrs. Tillman Hagenbuch; Treasurer—Mrs. Herman Bogart; Historian—Mrs. Raymond Hagenbuch. Our historian, Mrs. Lester Beaver, made the following report for the years from 1942 to June 1946 inclusive:

Percy Hagenbuch, 1950. Percy was Vice President of the 1946 Hagenbuch Reunion.

Marriages: Miss Helen Hagenbuch and John E. Styer married Aug. 27, 1942; Miss Grace Anderson and Tillman Hagenbuch married on Sept. 5, 1942; Miss Leona Durant and Charles Hagenbuch married Dec. 18, 1943; Miss Grace Taylor and Roy Pitzer married Nov. 22, 1945; Miss Carrie Welliver and William Hagenbuch married March 14, 1946; Miss Florence Hagenbuch and John R. Robb married April 14, 1946.

Births: Nancy Kay, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wilmer Hagenbuch born June 8, 1942; Barry Scott, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Hagenbuch born Jan. 6, 1943; Paula Diana, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Styer born Sept. 16, 1943; Percy Wayne, son of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Hagenbuch born Sept. 28, 1943; Robert Homer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Homer Hagenbuch born Feb. 24, 1944; Marjorie Lee, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Hagenbuch born July 14, 1944; James Leroy, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Styer born Jan. 17, 1945; David Leroy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Hagenbuch born March 13, 1945.

Deaths: Mr. Charles White, Feb. 17, 1943; Mrs. Emma Hagenbuch, April 15, 1943; Mr. Ray Taylor, Aug. 4, 1943, Miss Alice Foust, Feb. 16, 1945; Mr. Tillman Paul Jr., Jan. 14, 1946; Mr. Oscar Foust, April 10, 1944.

It was decided to have our next reunion the first Saturday in June of 1947 at Sunnybrook Park, Danville, PA. The following committee was reappointed for further advertising our reunion in the various communities: Leland Knepper, Weatherly, PA; Mrs. Wilmer Reichard, Bloomsburg, Nescopeck and vicinity; Mrs. Charles White, Lightstreet and vicinity; Mrs. Steadman, Benton and vicinity; President W. Paul Roat, all communities not represented above.

W. Paul and Lulu (Mast) Roat, 1939. Paul was President of the 1946 Hagenbuch Reunion.

The meeting was adjourned. (Signed) Mrs. John R. Robb, Secretary

Those in attendance at the 1947 Hagenbuch reunion were:

From Washingtonville: Rev. and Mrs. Luther J. Linn, Kathryn Linn, Betty Wilt, Pvt. and Mrs. Homer S. Hagenbuch, Barbara Hagenbuch, Robert Hagenbuch, Mr. and Mrs. Tillman Hagenbuch

From Lightstreet: Mrs. Charles White

From Bloomsburg R.D.: Mr. and Mrs. Wilmer Reichard, Donald Reichard, Jean Reichard

From Watsontown R.D.: Mrs. Kathryn Roat, Mr. and Mrs. W. Paul Roat, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Bogart, Kenneth Bogart, Leona Bogart, Miss Lera J. Laidacher

Herman and Bernice (Hagenbuch) Bogart, 1952. Bernice was Treasurer of the 1946 Hagenbuch Reunion.

From Danville R.D.: Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Hagenbuch, Larue Hagenbuch, Joseph Hagenbuch, Mr. and Mrs. Israel Hagenbuch, Julia Hagenbuch, Bruice Hagenbuch, Andrew Hagenbuch, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Hagenbuch, Joann Hagenbuch, Dorothy Jane Hagenbuch, Luther Hagenbuch Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Lester Beaver, Dean Beaver, Dale Beaver, Donald Beaver, Edna Mae Beaver, Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus Hagenbuch, Jean Hagenbuch, Arlene Hagenbuch, Stanley Hagenbuch

From Milton R.D.: Mr. and Mrs. Percy Hagenbuch, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hagenbuch, Edward Hagenbuch, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence C. Hagenbuch, Lee Hagenbuch, Ellen Hagenbuch, Mary Hagenbuch, Cpl. Wilmer Hagenbuch, Nancy Kay Hagenbuch.

From Turbotville R.D.: Mr. and Mrs. John R. Robb

[Not listed as attending but present as they were mentioned previously were Leland Knepper from Weatherly and Mrs. Steadman from Benton.]

Except for seven people, everyone attending this reunion were either descendants of William Hagenbuch (b. 1807) and his wife Rebecca (Muffley) Hagenbuch or spouses of descendants. Lera Laidacher would marry Lee Hagenbuch in November of 1946. Rev. Luther Linn was minister at Oak Grove and Washingtonville churches where many of the Hagenbuchs attended. His wife Viola and daughter Kathryn Viola were with him at the reunion. Betty Wilt was Viola Linn’s younger sister and was probably visiting with the Linns.

The two names that led me into deeper research were Leland Knepper and Mrs. Steadman. Both had attended previous reunions with other members of their family. Leland Knepper was a descendant of Michael Hagenbuch (b. 1805)—the last owner of the original Hagenbuch homestead in Berks County. Michael was a first cousin to William Hagenbuch (b. 1807), who is mentioned above. Leland’s family line from Andreas is: Andreas (b. 1715) > Michael (b. 1746) > Jacob (b. 1777) > Michael (b. 1805) > Magdalena “Mary” (Hagenbuch) Knepper (b. 1830) who married to Joel Knepper > Amandus Knepper (b. 1851) > Lewis Knepper (b. 1876) > Leland Knepper (b. 1904).

Robert “Bobby” H. Hagenbuch with grandfather Clarence C. Hagenbuch, 1945. Bobby was one of the youngest attendees to the 1946 Hagenbuch Reunion.

As a boy, I only knew that descendants of my great great grandfather, William Hagenbuch (b. 1807), attended the Hagenbuch reunion. But, this shows that other lines were represented in the early years of the reunion. As with Leland Knepper and his family, the same is true for Mrs. Steadman.

Online research shows that this was actually Sarah “Sadie” (Hagenbuch) Stedman whose second husband was Raymond Stedman from Benton, Pennsylvania. Sadie was first married to Sylvester Heath who had died in 1936. Sadie’s line of descent is: Andreas (b. 1715) > Michael (b. 1746) > Henry (b. 1772) > Isaac (b. 1801) > Henry (b. 1833) > Henry William (b. 1857) > Sarah “Sadie” (Hagenbuch) Heath Stedman. As stated earlier, at previous reunions, Sadie had others of her family present also.

The reunion minutes, along with photos, diaries and letters, are very important windows into the genealogy of the Hagenbuch family. Because of the 1946 Hagenbuch Reunion minutes, Beechroots was able to add Kneppers, Heaths, Stedmans and other names to the family tree of Andreas Hagenbuch. As always, there are more treasures to be found. Being Hagenbuch genealogists, Andrew and I hope that future reunions will draw the attendance of many Hagenbuch descendants from our family’s various lines.