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...
Tagged: Pennsylvania
“Wahres Christentum”: Andreas Hagenbuch’s Gift to His Son
Andreas Hagenbuch died in 1785. Previous articles have examined his last will and testament, as well as the inventory of his estate. See the full text of Andreas Hagenbuch’s will Read an analysis of...
Bacon Stone of Albany Township, Berks County
Andreas Hagenbuch and his family arrived in Albany Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1738. Here, they established a homestead along with a new life in the American colonies. Albany Township is situated within the...
Schambacher’s Tavern: A Real Ghost Story
The scariest ghost stories are the real ones. And while not all the facts in this one can be verified, many can be. Best of all, this particular story is connected to the Hagenbuchs...
Andreas Hagenbuch in Court
Piecing together family history is rarely a simple task. The further one goes back through time, the less there is to work from. Memories fade, photographs are lost, and documents are destroyed. Precious little...
The Scheitholt: An Early Pennsylvania German Instrument
Before the invention of sound recordings, instruments and the skills to play them were especially valued. As discussed in the previous article, Music of Andreas Hagenbuch’s Time, there are no historical records of the...
Sarah Foust: School Teacher in the Early 1900s
On November 1, 1984 Ethel Lillian Bibby, aged 75 years old, died in a nursing home in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Unmarried, few of her immediate family were still living. Mark Hagenbuch, Ethel’s 2nd cousin once...
Butchering Day Memories from the Farm, Part 1
This two-part article series by Mark O. Hagenbuch was originally published on February 24, 2015, just after Fastnacht Day. Last Tuesday was Fastnacht Day here in our part of Pennsylvania. In our Montour County...
Samuel and Susanna (Hess) Hagenbuch Family
The idea behind this site is to have a mix of genealogy, history, and family stories—and not just those related to the Hagenbuch family that came primarily from Montour County, Pennsylvania. That family, the...
Andreas Hagenbuch Acquires Land in Berks County
Andreas Hagenbuch (b. 1715) and his family landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 18, 1737. They spent that first winter in or nearby the city. As spring approached, Andreas Hagenbuch visited the Pennsylvania Land...
