Vandal and Wendell Vital Records and More
Vandal, Vandle, Vandale, Vandel, Vandall, Vandell, Wendell, Wendel
9/29/2024 Note: You may be able to see the original documents by using this updated link to West Virginia Vital Records.
I think I need to mention the variations in the spelling of the surname before we move on.
The surname Vandal has several different origins and many spellings. In Southern West Virginia, it is probably a derivation of Wendell, as in the case of Abraham Vandal. He was born Abraham Wendell in Dutchess County, New York, but the spelling got changed during his military service due to his pronouncing “W” like “V”. The earliest Wendell I know of was Evert Jansen Wendell, who settled at Fort Orange (Albany) after arriving in New Netherland about 1642. (An historical painting of Fort Orange is here.) He was born in Emden, which at times has been a part of Germany. Even though Abraham was the fifth generation from Evert Jansen Wendell, he was still sometimes referred to as being “German”. He was related to Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and his son, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
There are several family crests associated with the names. If that is important to you, you’ll have to do more research to decide which one applies.
There are people with a Vandal surname NOT derived from Wendell, but I don’t know the origins or where they lived—possibly Canada.
I assume that the variant spellings of Wendell all have the same source, but I do not know that for sure. It is my belief that sometimes variant spellings came about due to settlers’ deliberate attempts to differentiate their family from other relatives, with variations not necessarily being due to illiteracy.
BIRTHS - STATEWIDE
DEATHS - STATEWIDE
BURIALS AT FIND-A-GRAVE
Vandle
Vandel