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Note: The given name "Wendelin" is a very common male German name which was quite popular in the 18th-to-early 20th centuries. In correct German, it would be pronounced "Vendelin," as the German "W" is pronounced as a "V." It would have been used in honor of St. Wendelin. The meaning of the name is "a small Vandal" from the wandering tribe of Vandals. The name's use comes from St. Wendelin the place named St. Wendel in the Saarland. St. Wendelin was a herdsman and then a hermit monk in the vicinity of the Tholey abbey near Trier and died about 617. St. Wendelin's day is 20 October and he is the patron saint of farmers and animals. The similarity of the name to the German wandeln (to wander, hike) caused the representation of St. Wendelin to be with a pilgrim's (hiker's) staff and hat. This name is found especially in Catholic areas, near Trier and St. Wendel, in farming or grazing areas, and for boys born around October 20.
Based on the Baden-Wuerttemberg emigration records, it appears that Wendelin Bauer and his family (wife and three children) applied for permission to emigrate in 1847 (from Baden) and again in 1848 (from Wuerttemberg). It would appear from those records and others that he was born in Wuerttemberg but lived across the 'county' line in Baden. It is possible that he applied in both states in order to receive his share of his father's property in Wuerttemberg and his father-in-law's property in Baden.
By October 1850, the family was living in the 3rd Ward of Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and had added a fourth child who, at the time, was listed in the Federal Census as being two years old and showed a birthplace of Pennsylvania. Wendelin's occupation was listed as 'laborer'.
The first entry in the Pittsburgh City Directory for Wendelin (1858-9) shows his occupation as retail grocer, living on Spring Garden Lane, Allegheny City. This form of entry continued until his death in 1884 with the street address being pinpointed as 113 Spring Garden Avenue after the 1869 directory.
St. Mary's Church record shows that Wendelin died July 22, 1884; City of Pittsburgh death certificate shows July 21, 1884.
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