Sunday School Picnic at Knoebels Grove, c. 1937

It is a fact that Oak Grove Lutheran Church, which is located between Pottsgrove and Danville, Pennsylvania, was often referred to as the “Hagenbuch Church” during the 1900s. That is certainly supported by the photograph seen below. It was taken around 1937 at an Oak Grove Sunday school picnic held at Knoebels Grove.

Members of the Hagenbuch family at a Sunday school picnic held at Knoebels Grove in 1937. Click to see a larger version.

Back row, left to right: Andrew James Hagenbuch, Raymond Joseph Hagenbuch, Bruice Hiram Hagenbuch, Roy Harold Hagenbuch, Franklin Percy Hagenbuch, Homer Sechler Hagenbuch, Norman Edward Hagenbuch, Wilmer Henry Hagenbuch, Howard Tillman Hagenbuch, Clyde Watson Hagenbuch, Raymond Larue Hagenbuch, Lee Atwood Hagenbuch

Second row, left to right: Harvey Yingling, Ida Yingling, Helen Irene Hagenbuch, Arlene Neitz, Ellen Lucille Hagenbuch, Mary Kathryn Hagenbuch, Florence Margaret Hagenbuch, Helen Yingling, Joseph James Hagenbuch, William Paul Roat, Julia Catherine Hagenbuch, Kathryn (Hagenbuch) Roat

Third row, left to right: Israel Hagenbuch, Clarence Charles Hagenbuch, Kathryn Martha Hagenbuch, Mrs. Troxell, Minnie (Keefer) Hagenbuch, Gertrude (Hill) Hagenbuch, Hannah (Sechler) Hagenbuch, Percy Hagenbuch, Emma Charlotte (Tanner) Hagenbuch, Mary Emma (Robbins) Hagenbuch

Fourth row, left to right (kneeling): Gordon Troxell, Pearl Johnson, Emma Johnson, Catherine Johnson

Only nine of the thirty eight people in this photo are not Hagenbuchs; but one of those, Helen Yingling, would later marry Hiram Hagenbuch (not present in photo), son of Franklin Walter Hagenbuch (d. 1930). Franklin was the brother of Percy, Israel, Clarence and Kathryn Roat (all present in this photo). Furthermore, Harvey Yingling had three daughters: Helen and Ida (both in the photo), as well as Mildred. In 1942, Roy Hagenbuch (back row) married Mildred Yingling.

The four siblings mentioned previously (Percy, Israel, Clarence, and Kathryn Roat) are children of Hiram Sr. (b. 1847, d. 1897) and Mary Ann (Lindner) Hagenbuch. (Mary Ann was written about in the previous article “One Silver Dollar“.) Percy’s wife is Gertrude, Israel’s wife is Minnie, and Clarence’s wife is Hannah. Kathryn’s husband, William Roat, died in 1932. They had one son, who is present in the photo, William Paul Roat.

Of Percy and Gertrude’s children, present in the photo are Norman, Franklin, and Tillman. Israel and Minnie’s children are Andrew, Bruice, and Julia. Their eldest son Walter is not in the photo. Clarence and Hannah’s children are Homer, Wilmer, Lee, Florence, Ellen, and Mary. Their eldest son, Charles, is not present. Hiram Hagenbuch Jr., brother to Percy, Israel, Clarence, and Kathryn, is not present, but four of his five children are: Roy, Clyde, Helen, and Kathryn. Hiram Jr. and wife Bessie (Lake) Hagenbuch’s middle child, Paul, is not in the photo.

Emma (Robbins) Hagenbuch was married to Joseph Hagenbuch, brother to Hiram Sr. Joseph was born in 1852 and died in 1935. He was married to sisters: Sarah Robbins who died in 1881 and Mary Emma Robbins (in photo). Joseph and Sarah had two daughters. Joseph and Emma had a daughter and son. The son was Raymond, who was married to Emma Charlotte (known as Lottie), both of whom are in the photo. Their two sons are present at this picnic: Raymond Larue and Joseph James.

Of the Hagenbuchs in the photo three were still living in January of 2015 when this article was originally published: sisters Ellen and Mary, and Joseph son of Raymond. Mary eventually died in 2015, Raymond in 2017, and Ellen in 2018.

Percy Hagenbuch (center) gestures towards the camera in a detail from the 1937 Hagenbuch family picnic

There are many stories and facts about these folks which will be addressed in another article. Here is one small observation made by Bruice Hagenbuch years ago when he and I were looking at this photo. He pointed out that Percy has a big smile on his face and is holding his right hand up in a fist, his left hand is also in an odd position. Lottie, seated next to him is grinning and looking askance as if to say, “Oh Percy!”

Percy was a fun-loving Hagenbuch who enjoyed joking around. As Bruice put it, “Looks like he is deviling Lottie.” With careful observation, there are many other interesting pieces to the photo. This is a photo that is very unique and very important to the Hagenbuch family.

This article was updated on May 19, 2025 to include updated information about family members, revised formatting of maiden names, and a detail of Percy Hagenbuch from the larger photograph. Research was done to confirm the year and location of the image too. According to writing on the back of the original photograph, it is from the “Summer of 1935???” which was written sometime after the picture was taken. 

The 1935 Oak Grove Sunday school picnic was held at Sunnybrook Park in Danville, PA on August 10th of that year. There were more people in attendance than the photo shows. In 1936, the picnic was held on September 12th, again at Sunnybrook Park and with more in attendance than were photographed above. No record of the picnic can be found for 1937 or 1938. However, in 1938 the first Hagenbuch Reunion was held. Finally, in 1939 on August 4th, Washingtonville Lutheran Church and Oak Grove Lutheran held their Sunday school picnics together at Benton Park in Benton, PA.

Noting the above, it seems plausible that the photograph is, indeed, from 1937 and was a smaller gathering of the Oak Grove Sunday school at a new location—Knoebels Grove in Elysburg, PA. Perhaps the traditional Sunday school picnic was canceled that year and the Hagenbuchs still wanted to gather. This may have led the family to have their very first reunion the next year back at Sunnybrook Park.