Special Edition: Ode to a Hagenbuch Father
Today is Father’s Day, which is celebrated in the United States on the third Sunday in June. It also happens to be the birthday of one special father, Mark Odis Hagenbuch (b. 1953). Noting...
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What’s in a Name?
The recent birth of our first grandchild (a sweet, little girl named Hadley Faye Emig; parents – Nelson and Katie “Hagenbuch” Emig) reminded my wife Linda and me how important the naming process of...
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...
Parlour Games
Who remembers a time when there was no television, no computers, and folks would get together on a Saturday evening to play games? Some people still do this and have an evening once in...
Easter Post Cards from the Past
The sending of Easter post cards became popular in the early 1900s, the main publishers being from Germany. Among some of the family pieces I possess are six Easter post cards from 1908 and...
A Continued Conversation with Andreas Hagenbuch
Newspaper correspondent John Smith continues his conversation with Andreas Hagenbuch one spring evening in 1784 as told in first person by Mr. Smith. In reference to the previous article, Andreas and his son Michael...
Making Sauerkraut: A Pennsylvania Deitsch Tradition
It was hardly a surprise when, this past summer, my parents told me that they were going to start making their own sauerkraut. My family does, after all, have a reputation for tackling some...
Stories My Father Told Me
As stated in previous articles, family history is more than names and dates. Most interesting can be the family stories that have been passed on from one generation to another. Oral traditions are often...
The Christmas Putz
Several days ago, my wife Linda and I attended a special showing of nativities at a church near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Over 500 nativity scenes or creches were displayed. Many were traditional and made of...
Cemetery Stories
The story has already been related of my Sunday sojourns to the Oak Grove Church cemetery with my great Uncle Perce. Cemeteries often hold a morbid fascination for most people and stories abound that...
