unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. It occupies small portions of two townships--
Armstrong Armstrong may refer to:
Places
* Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places
Antarctica
* Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands
Argentina
* Armstrong, Santa Fe
Australia
* Armstrong, Victoria
Canada
* Armstrong, British Columbia
* Armstrong ...
and
Robinson Robinson may refer to:
People and names
* Robinson (name)
Fictional characters
* Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719
Geography
* Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 1960 ...
. The community is named for St. Wendel Parish, which in turn is named after
Wendelin of Trier
Saint Wendelin of Trier ( la, Vendelinus; 554 - 617 AD) was a hermit and abbot. Although not listed in the Roman Martyrology, his cultus is wide-spread in German-speaking areas. He is a patron of country folk and herdsmen. He is honored on O ...
, patron saint of Wendel Wassmer, who originally owned the grounds used for this Catholic church building.
History
The settlement was founded by Marcus and Wendel Wassmer. The Wassmer brothers were German-Canadian coopers who had immigrated from
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
to
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
. Legend has it that in the spring of 1837, they walked south to this vicinity. Upon their return to Toronto in the summer, they found they no longer had jobs and returned on foot once again to the same grounds they had visited that spring. Their second arrival is said to have happened in the fall of 1837. The Wassmers secured some farmland, and their descendants still live there today.
Prior to December, 1841,
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
had been celebrated in St. Wendel parish from the time of its creation in the home of Martin Kohl, but in Christmas week of the year mentioned, the congregation—composed of twenty families—prepared the material and erected within five days a log structure as a house of worship named in honor of Wendel Wassmer's
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
,
Wendelin of Trier
Saint Wendelin of Trier ( la, Vendelinus; 554 - 617 AD) was a hermit and abbot. Although not listed in the Roman Martyrology, his cultus is wide-spread in German-speaking areas. He is a patron of country folk and herdsmen. He is honored on O ...
.
In 1881, Wendel Station was built at mile 233 on the Evansville and Peoria Railroad at St. Wendel Road, approximately north of the church. By 1882, St. Wendel's population was 175 individuals.
A post office was established at Saint Wendel in 1852, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1907.