Grandpa Val Wendel, age 3 Before genealogy was popular, I was asked a lot why I liked it. Because it's a puzzle, I said, and everybody likes puzzles. Family history is a seek-and-find puzzle: in these 100 random letters, can you find the names you want? Sometimes they are easily found in the top horizontal line, and sometimes you have to catch a break to discover them bafflingly diagonal and backwards. I especially love names, and names in lists, which is why I can amaze students by knowing the pronunciation, spelling, and test scores of children I don't even teach. One of my favorite things to do is follow the children in large families from one census to the next, checking names and ages to find out their futures: did they die, move out, stay to take care of Mama and Papa, or change their name? Three generations back, the Wendel siblings make an especially fun puzzle, so I will include it here for you to try your hand at solving. (See Wendel Pedigree Chart, see Wend
Photos, stories, and memorabilia across generations