Wendel Children Seek and Find Puzzle

 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 Wendel, Ancestors of Henry Pedigree Chart)

1910 census

Wendel, Christine, inmate, female, white, age 14, single, born in New York

-----------Valentine, inmate, male, white, age 13, single, born in New York

I was told that I would never find out anything about my grandfather-in-law Val Wendel's forebears, because he grew up in an orphanage.  The only thing anyone knew about his family was that he had a sister, Aunt Chris, and some relative named Gus.  So imagine my excitement when I found 3-year-old Valentine Wendel in the 1900 census, grandson of the head of household!  Back in the day when genealogy was slowwwwwww, I had to find a babysitter, go to the Family History Center, look on census index cards, and then order the desired microfilm from the main Mormon Library in Utah.  When that came in many weeks later, I had to repeat the process and hope that what I got was a hit.

1900 census

Tetsch, William, head, Emely, wife, Lizzie, Clara, daughters, William, son, Wendel, Anna, daughter, Christina, granddaughter, Valentine, grandson 

I thought that being the grandson in the household proved Grandpa Val was an orphan, but that was wrong.  I did get a ton more information, though, putting me back another 2 generations.  Grandpa Val was living with his 4-year-old sister Christina, mother Anna Wendel, grandparents William and Emily Tetsch, and aunts/uncle Lizzie, Clara, and William Tetsch Jr.  Anna was married, though, which was confusing:  had her husband left her or was he working on the railroad or in prison?  Was he dead and the census taker had made a mistake?  I still don't know why Mr. Wendel is not in the census.

Valentine Wendel is the absolutely best name to research ever.  Valentine is so unusual, you can search with just a first name, but it is a common enough word that it is never misspelled.  Wendel is perfectly middle-of-the-road, not too many of them, and always spelled right.  (Why that is not true now, I don't know.  My students call me Mrs. Windex, Window, Wendy, Wendall)  

So when I did a cold call of any Valentine Wendel in any record, and found a Christina Wendel applying for a Civil War widow's pension for a Valentine, I knew that was absolutely correct.  Grandpa Val's parents were so interested in maintaining their family ties, they named their only children after their grandparents.  "Never find out anything because of the orphanage!"  Ha!

Ottilie Orphan Asylum, founded in 1892 for the orphans of German immigrants, is still a residential facility for children in Jamaica, Queens County, New York 

Here are your puzzle questions for The Children of Christine and Valentin Wendel: Answers at bottom

1. List the children, in order.
2. How many children did Christine and Valentin have altogether?
3. Which child ran away, never heard of after that?
4. Which children are not included on Marguerite's family tree?
5. Which child died when Valentin was at war?
6. Was Christine at home with children when Valentin went to war?
7. Which children have more than one name?
8. Is there a Valentine Junior?

For our puzzle, we have 3 censuses, 1860, 1870, and 1880.  We also have the First German Church on Rivington Street baptism records.  We even have a personal letter in Valentin's military file!  And the best part is, after years of research, I was contacted by a cousin who has a family tree hand-drawn by Christine and Valentin's granddaughter!

I followed Christine and Valentin back thru their fascinating lives.  In German, Christine is pronounced Christina, so sometimes her name is spelled with an a at the end.  Valentin was his name before it was Americanized, and it is pronounced Fal-en-teen.

Valentin arrived in New York at age 28, on 2 June 1856 on the ship Zurich.  He seems to be traveling alone.  Christine had arrived a couple of years before, with at least 3 younger siblings and possibly other relatives.  Valentin was born in Winnweiler, Bavaria, while Christine Federlechner was from Deutschneureuth in Karlsruhe, Baden.  I needed to compare lots of records to decipher those words in old German script!  

The censuses are the most basic records, so I found those first.  Christine and Valentin were in Manhattan's 17th Ward in 1860 with no children, 1870 with 5 children, and 1880 with 8 children (the 1890 US census was destroyed in a fire).

1860 census

Valentine Wendel, age 32, male, occupation Locksmith, born in Germany,  

                         Christinia     "       age 25, female,  occupation Pants maker,     born in     "

         1870 census

Wendle.Valent. age 40, male, white, Locksmith, born in Prussia

Wendle, Christinia, age 30, female, white, born in Baden

Then Kate, 4, Jacob, 8, Henry, 5, Christiania, 2, and John, 2/12 (2 months), all born in New York

1880 census

Wendel, Valentine, white male, age 52, married, segar (cigar) maker

------- Christina, white female, 45, wife, married, keeping house

------- Jacob, white male, 18, son, single, varnisher

------- Henry, white male, 14, son, single, bartender

------- Christina, white female, 12, daughter, single, at school

------- John, white male, 10, son, single, at school

Then Caroline, 8, Annie, 6,  Charles, 4, Louis, 2

Then we have the baptisms that took place at the First German Church of Rivington Street, Manhattan, in the 17th Ward, where services took place in German.birth date Oct 6 1858; baptism Nov 21; Elisabeth and Helene Wendel, parents Valentin Wendel of Winnweiler and Christine W. born Federlechner birth date Juli 23 1860; baptism Sept 16; Joseph Wendel, parents Valentin Wendel of Winnweiler and Christine W. born Federlechner birth date April 26 1862; baptism Dec 7; Catharina Wendel, parents Valentin Wendel of Winnweiler and Christine born Federlechner of Deutschneur. birth date Dec 3 1864; baptism dec 25 1865; Jacob Wendel, parents Valentin Wendel of Winnweiler and Christine born Federlechner of Deutschn. birth date April 23 1870; baptism June 25 1871; Johann Wendel, parents Valentin Wendel and Christine born Federle.

I cannot find baptism records for the other children.

The most unusual find was this letter in Valentin's military file.  His 2nd lieutenant wrote a letter on his behalf, asking the assistant adjutant general for permission for a furlough for Valentin to go home for 30 days.  The lieutenant explained that he had received a letter from home.  It said his presence was necessary at home because one of his children had died and his wife was in critical circumstance.  The sentence that most touches me is this one - "He is a good soldier."  There is no permission in the file, but it must have been granted, because his later pay stubs show Valentin's pay deducted for train fare.  I can imagine Valentin receiving this devastating letter and taking it immediately to his lieutenant in shock.  I can imagine the lieutenant comforting him while promising to help.  It took several days before the letters worked their way through the chain of command and I can imagine Valentin in anxious agitation the whole time.

I assumed that "critical circumstance" meant that Christine was about to die from the same cause as the child, whether illness or accident.  But she lived to be 75 and had 8 more children.  The letter tells us that Valentin had "children" - plural.  How many and who were they?  And which one died? 

Lastly, we have this amazing family tree written by Marguerite Wendel Bechtold, daughter of Louis, the youngest child.  Marguerite knows some interesting tidbits, showing that Valentin and Louis talked about his life.  It took him 9 days to get to America by boat.  After the Civil War, he worked building the Brooklyn Bridge for 2 years.  War and building the world's first suspension bridge?  He was one brave man.  No wonder he talked about it.  But she doesn't know everything -- like her grandmother's name or where she's from.  And then there is her handwriting!

OK, now you have all the info.  Ready to figure it out?

In case you need it, here's a cheat sheet:

Year Of Birth	1 July  1860 census	1870 census	1880 census	Church Baptisms	NYC Births	NYC Marriages
1858				Elisabeth & Helene
1860	No children			Joseph
1862		Jacob	Jacob	Catharina		Katie
1864				Jacob
1865		Henry
1866		Kate	Henry			Henry
1868		Christiana	Christina			Christine
1870		John	John	Johann	John
1871						John
1872			Caroline		Louise	Carrie
1874			Annie			Annie Juliette
1875					Charles
1876			Charles
1877					Louis
1878			Louis			Louis

 I still do not understand why Grandpa Val and his sister Aunt Chris had to go to an orphanage, since they had 11 aunts and uncles who could have taken them in.

Answers:

1. Elisabeth, Helene, Joseph, Catharina, Jacob, Henry, Christina, John, Caroline, Annie, Charles, and Louis.

2. 12. Marguerite said there were 12 children.  We have found 13 total names, but Caroline and Louise seem to be the same person.

3. Jacob, although he didn't run away at age 12, because he is living at home at age 18.  The  only boys not listed in Marguerite's family tree are Joseph and Jacob.  But Joseph, who was born in 1860, does not even make it into the 1870 census.  

4. Joseph and Caroline. The set of twins and the runaway are not named, and Henry is called Valentine.

5. Joseph.  The twins died before Valentin left for war, because they are not in the 1860 census.  Catharina and Jacob are born during the war, but they live on.

6. Yes.  Joseph was born 23 July 1860, 23 days after the census was taken, so he was 13 months old when Valentin enlisted.  Catharina was born 26 April 1862, so Christine was a few weeks pregnant when he left.

7 and 8. Catharina is nicknamed Kate and Katie.  John is baptized Johann.  Annie Juliette is called Anna and Juliana, which was very confusing at first.  But those are just variations.  Caroline/Carrie was called Louise when she was born.  And Marguerite seems to think that her Uncle Henry's name is Valentine.  But I have not seen any record where his name is anything other than Henry.

References:

Valentine and Christine Wendel, 1910 US Federal Census, Queens Ward 4, Queens, New York

Valentine Wendel, in household of William Tetsch, 1900 US Federal Census, New York, Manhattan Enumeration District 337

Valentine and Christina Wendel, US Civil War Pension Index, General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, The National Archives at Washington, DC

Fisher, Muriel Lane, A History of the Ottilie Orphan Asylum 1892-1942,    https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI31097057/

https://sco.org/programs/ottilie-residential-treatment-facility/

Valentin and Christine Wendel, 1860 US Federal Census, NY Ward 17 District 10

Valentin and Christine Wendel, 1870 US Federal Census, NY Ward 17 District 7 (2nd Enumeration Dist)

Valentin and Christine Wendel, 1880 US Federal Census, New York City Enumeration District 370

Wendel Children in Baptisms, US Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970

Valentin Wendel, US Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles

Family Tree, 1979, written by Marguerite Wendel Bechtold, personal records of Shelley Bechtold

Valentin Wandel, New York Passenger Lists 1820-1897, 1856, Arrival New York, NY