Remembering James H. Hagenbuch: a Daring Jump on D-Day
In the first part of this article series, my father, Mark Hagenbuch, introduced us to James H. Hagenbuch (b. 1922, d. 1944) and his family line. James, who also appears to have gone by...
Tagged: German
Planning the 2020 Hagenbuch Reunion
Several readers have written asking for information about the next Hagenbuch Family Reunion, since one was not planned for 2019. Currently, a date and a location have been set for a family reunion in...
The Sauerkraut Diaries
On January 2, 2018, I wrote an article about New Year’s Day memories from the early 1900s. Some of these remembrances were gleaned from the diary entries of my mother, Irene (Faus) Hagenbuch. Of...
Deitsch Foods: Turnip Casserole with Semmede
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Hagenbuch family was part of Pennsylvania’s Deitsch culture. Food was important to the Deitsch. So, with this in mind, my wife Sara and I set about to...
The Book, Part 5: The Facts
My obsession with Johann Arndt’s Wahren Christentum (True Christianity) began in July of 2015 when my son, Andrew, wrote an article about Andreas Hagenbuch’s will. I learned at that time that Andreas had willed...
Letters From the Past: Part 1
A few weeks ago I was in our barn looking for something. The upstairs of the building is storage, and we have a lot of “stuff” stored there. Most of the boxes are marked...
The Next Morning, A Conversation with Andreas Hagenbuch: Part 3
Months ago an imaginary visit and conversation with Andreas Hagenbuch was written about in two articles: Part 1 and Part 2. The visitor who interviewed Andreas one night in 1784 was John Smith, a...
1789 Essay on the Pennsylvania Deitsch, Part 3
In the first and second parts of the essay, An Account of the Manners of the German Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Rush proposed a list of the key characteristics of Pennsylvania’s Deitsch citizens. He...
1789 Essay on the Pennsylvania Deitsch, Part 2
In the first part of the essay, An Account of the Manners of the German Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Rush listed some of the key characteristics of Pennsylvania’s Deitsch residents. These included thriftiness, respect...
1789 Essay on the Pennsylvania Deitsch, Part 1
The Hagenbuch family arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1737 and were part of one of the earliest waves of German immigrants to the colony. By the late 18th century, Pennsylvania’s German or “Deitsch” residents...
