Name also spelt as Pauline. Lived at 926 Morgan in Santa Rosa when she passed away.

Nothing is known about her family and there is no listing for her or any Lang family member in the 1860 Census for Sonoma (very possible that her mother had remarried much like her husband's).

Listed in Sonoma County Marriages 1847-1902 (Sonoma County Genealogical Society, Inc., Santa Rosa, CA: 1st Edition, March 1980) as Pauline Long (Sonoma Marriages Book B Page 625, M. K. McCorkle, Officiant).

The will for Paulina Wendt recorded Dec 18, 1914, Sonoma County Will Book K, Page 249 and Sonoma County Probate Register 11, Page 258, Record 5918. Extracted notes from both records:

When Paulina Wendt passed away on December 10, 1914 (at the age of 76), she stipulated that a "...sum of fifty dollars to Claude, Stephen, Milton & Douglas Wendt grandchildren & children of my deceased son, William Wendt... rest of estate devise to my children..." She appointed Fred B. Wendt as executor of her estate. Thorn P. Gale and D. R. Gale were witnesses. The will was written Sept. 28, 1914. At the time of her death, Claude (age 22), Stephen (age 18), and Douglas (age 12), are all listed as living in Monterey, CA (they were living in the town of Soledad). My grandfather, Milton was 16 and living in Santa Rosa (probably with Bruce Fulkerson). All of Paulina Wendt's living children had residence in Santa Rosa. They are Mollie C. Leggett (age 45), Leonard Wendt (age 44), Paulina S. Fulkerson (age 42), Katherine B. Wendt (age 38), and Fred B. Wendt (33). She had $1500 in the bank, and $200 worth of household furniture. She still owned the Morgan Street property which was appraised for $4500, and the Fifth Street property (described as being between Wilson and Washington Streets) is appraised at $2600. The cash remaining after the debts were paid was split up among the heirs, as well as the ownership of the two properties. I assume these properties were sold shortly after, though I could not find this being mentioned in the probate record.

I could not find any listing of a naturalization record for a Paulina Wendt in the Santa Rosa County Clerk's office -- perhaps she was also naturalized in New Jersey. I have looked through nine volumes of Germans to America: Lists of Passengers Arriving at U.S. Ports, 1850-1855, edited by Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby (Scholarly Resources Inc. 1988), but have been unable to find a substantial reference to a Frederick Wendt or a Paulina Lang that makes any sense to me. Paulina is listed in the 1880 Census as being born in Baden, the region in south-west Germany bordering on Switzerland and France which was a grand duchy between 1805-1918.

Obituary for Paulina Wendt from a clipping that my grandmother had kept, Press Democrat, December 10, 1914 <date handwritten on clipping>, p. 8:

LOVED WOMAN
PASSES AWAY
____________

Mrs. Paulina Wendt Called to
Her Reward on Thursday
Morning

____________

Mrs. Pauline Wendt, widow of the late Fred Wendt, who passed away some two years ago, died at her home on Morgan street, this city, at 2:45 o'clock Thursday morning. Grosmama Wendt, as she was lovingly known, was born in Carlsruhe, Germany, September 6, 1838, and was 76 years of age at the time of passing to the great beyond.

Mrs. Wendt was married to Mr. Wendt in Santa Rosa, January 14, 1864. Six children were born to bless the union: William Wendt deceased, Mrs. Charles F. Leggett, Leonard Wendt, Mrs. Richard Fulkerson, Katherine Wendt and Fred B. Wendt, Jr. There are also eight grandchildren in Santa Rosa and vicinity.

Mother Wendt was one of the pioneer women of Sonoma county, having lived here for fifty years. She and her late husband settled on a fine ranch in Alpine Valley. These good people worked as only pioneers knew how to work, and reared their family with loving care, to become men and women of honor and integrity in the community. To know Mother Wendt was to love her; she was ever thoughtful and considerate of others, a kind neighbor, a true friend, a faithful wife and mother. She was a member of the Lutheran church and was never so happy as when sitting quietly by her fireside reading the words of her blessed Savor. The family have the sympathy of a wide circle of friends in her bereavement.

The funeral will be held at 1 p. m. Saturday, December 12, from her late home, 926 Morgan street. Rev. Peter Colvin will officiate.

Her obituary states that she was born in "Carlsruhe, Germany." Karlsruhe is a city in south-west Germany in Baden-Württemburg on the Rhine.

From another clipping which my grandmother kept (Press Democrat?, circa December 10, 1919):

FRIEND PAYS TRIBUTE
TO LATE MRS. WENDT
____________

A devoted woman friend of the late Mrs. Pauline Wendt, who resides in the bay city, has forwarded the following "In Memoriam" tribute to the deceased:

Will you kindly let me speak to you of a beloved friend, Mrs. Pauline Wendt, who has just passed away? She was known to so many of your people in Santa Rosa. Others have known her many years longer than I, but I am sure none could have loved her better than I, for she came into my life at a time when I could best appreciate the strong, sweet friendship of such a woman, and I have often thanked God it was my privilege to know her for even these few years. She was ever an inspiration to a higher and nobler life to me and, indeed, all who came in contact with her.

Her life was so useful, so simply and prettily lived, so full of desire to help and encorage others; so loving to her famly and friends. I shall not forget the last evening I spent with her in her home, just a little while before she passed away. She sat in the corner by the fire, and all the light in the room seemed to center on the beautiful white head and saintly face. She smiled so happily on us, and was so glad to have us there. I am thankful to have had this last picture of her to carry in my memory until I too, shall be called. The beautiful song of her life will have no ending, for them at all, whether sung in gladness or in a minor key, there ran a strain of hope and faith which those of us who loved her, must carry with us, and pass on to others, who fare with us along the way of life. She had wanted to go for many weary months, for she suffered much. But though she longed for rest she went bravely to the end, giving of the best to those she loved, and making no complaint, sure that her Lord would call her when it was time for her to go. And so our tears are dried as we think of the peace she is enjoying now in the land beyond the shadows:

Rest, rest, His sleeping after pain;

When lights are down and curtains

close we sleep.

The stars watch on, their rays faintly

keep

Their unseen vigil o'er the slumbering

one.

Not death, but rest, the music of the

spheres,

His angels' lullaby of sweet repose.

We should not weep--'tis well, God

knows.

And it is sweet to sleep.

One Who Loved Her.