My goal is to provide a place where Wannalls can store family information and where Wannalls and Wannells can meet in virtual chat rooms and establish email accounts.  I am hoping to facilitate the process of knitting all members of both families together for the benefit of my sons and grandchildren.  I pledge to allow family members to write and update revelant pages without undue censorship (keeping in mind this is a family-oriented page), and to provide related services either free of charge or as reasonably priced as possible.  So far I do not charge a membership fee.

These pages started with an idea in the spring of 1999 when I had occasion to visit my mother, Gertrude Crane "Trudie" Wannall (index 1918-02). Trudie had been building a graphical family tree since the early 1970's, and I was amazed to learn just how much she had accomplished without the benefit of the Internet. When I opened my big mouth and suggested we store the information in the web, she graciously (but rather quickly) turned over to me all of her notes, letters, and yes, even the tree itself. Like it or not, I was appointed curator of the family history. I spent the three following months of spare time I didn't really have transferring the information from the tree onto the Internet. All of her information and much more is now available via the Names Index page.

Entering a family tree of this size was an enormous task. I found I had more information than my web site (and nerves) could handle, so I was forced to create a "Female Lineage Policy". Since this page provides listings of all known people, living and deceased, who share the surname "Wannall", I had to set a limit on the number of future generations listed for women with a maiden name "Wannall".  I decided to set that limit at the grandchild level, or those who are two generations removed from the family name. Whenever possible, I link into other genealogy web sites.  Although it is not a part of my mission here, when outside links are not available I will try and offer assistance to those children and grandchildren of Wannall women who wish to trace their own lineage.

Trudie Wannall worked with George Lawrence Wannall (index 1919-01) to provide most of the genealogy portion of wannall.com.  In the 1970's these George and Trudie each searched census and cemetery records and compared notes that eventually led to the construction of Trudie's family tree. They discovered two major branches of the Wannall family, as we know it today. These branches evolved from two of the sons of Joseph Wannall (index 1811-01), William Tell Wannall (index 1857-01) and Henry Clay Wannall (index 1865-01) (who coincidently married two sisters named Downey.) During that period Trudie found and connected with Frank Wannall Stones (index 1878-01a) who lived in Ft. Worth, Texas.  Frank provided information about members of a branch that may have descended from Charles P. Wannall (index 1814-01), an brother of Joseph Wannall. In the summer of 2000 we managed to verify this link.  Since then, thanks to contributions from visitors to Wannall.com and the vast amount of new information arriving on the Internet, we have managed to make many connections, verify or discredit much of the family lore passed down from generation to generation, and add many exciting photographs, documents, and anecdotes from generations past.  It has been quite a ride.

I am grateful for the technical assistance of my son Douglas Keith Wannall (index 1970-01), who is one of the best web page programmers in the country. Also, I am deeply indebted to George Wannall, the late Frank Wannall Stones and Trudie Wannall, without whose efforts the original wannall.com would not have been possible. And finally I would like to thank the many other Wannalls, their relatives, and Wannall descendents who have contacted and encouraged me since the inception of this page and provided me with the information I need to fill in the blanks on profile pages. One of my most treasured experiences came when a young Wannall lady sent me an email thanking me for my efforts.  Wannall.com, it seems, was a valuable reference for one of her history assignments.  I am quickly learning that this family, in general, is comprised of a pretty good bunch of people. And it is rewarding to know my efforts are appreciated.

You can monitor our progress by keeping an eye on our "Last Updated" date on the home page. To see a chronological listing of our progress, click on "Last Updated", or on the "Help" button on the home page, then on "Updates" on the Help page. We are striving to refresh this page on a monthly basis, but updates will be provided only when profiles are added or when modifications are made to the site.