Abraham Vandal was most likely the first settler in the area that is now Fayetteville, West Virginia. He and his wife, Mary Dillon, operated an “ordinary” (inn) at their farmhouse to provide lodging and food for travelers from at least 1830, if not earlier. The area was called Vandalia until 1837. Abraham deeded his rye field to the newly formed Fayette County for the building of a courthouse. It has been said that this was the first recorded deed in Fayetteville and was handwritten by Hiram Hill. Until the courthouse was built, around 1838, court was held in the Vandal home, according to History of Fayette County, West Virginia, by J.T. Peters and H.B. Carden. His land, at various times in Giles, Logan, and Fayette counties, was part of that purchased by Vandal in 1811 from Louis Stuart, according to early Vandal researcher Wayne Masterson. There is a marker at the courthouse in honor of Abraham Vandal.
Abraham was probably mistaken about his own birthday, which was not uncommon in those times. He could not have been born on Oct. 18, 1758, as he reported on his pension application, because he was baptized on October 1, 1758, at Reformed Dutch Church of Albany, New York, as shown in Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Albany, New York 1683-1809, which can be found at Clayton Genealogical Library in Houston, Texas. His parents are listed as Henderick Wendel and Catalyntje Van Schaick. Vandal researchers spent many years trying to find his parents, but it has been reported that these names match those in his family Bible, which I have not seen. Some researchers (S. V. Talcott) have his birthdate as Sept. 27, 1758, which fits well with baptism on Oct. 1. Vandal was NOT the original name. The spelling was changed by military officers to match the way he pronounced his Wendell surname.
During the Revolutionary War, Vandal fought in both the Battle of White Plains and the Battle of Long Island (portrayed in the painting below), and performed other duties as described in his pension application.
He was born in Dutchess County, New York, and was descended from the earliest Dutch settlers of New Netherland, which later became the state of New York. Some of his ancestors settled in New Amsterdam (New York City) and some settled in Fort Orange (Albany). To get a visual image of what life was like in New Netherland during the 17th and 18th centuries, take the time to peruse the paintings of L.F. Tantillo on his website.
Part 2 will provide a brief description of Abraham’s ancestry. Part 3 will provide information about Abraham and Mary Vandal’s children.