Karl Vetter

My maternal grandfather was Karl Edward Vetter, born 7 March 1892 and died 9 December 1960. Because I was 8 years old when he passed away, I knew some things about him. A family group sheet he completed helped me start my family history journey.

What can I discover about him with today's search capabilities?

World War I Registration

In 1917, nearly every adult male in America was required to complete a draft registration card. These cards are now available in images online through FamilySearch. Here is what we know about Karl:

 He worked on a ranch -- not surprising, since he was raised on one. He was single, medium build, with light brown eyes and dark brown hair. He suffered from asthma -- which eventually led to his death at age 68. It appears that he filled out his registration card himself in a clear handwriting, so he must have been educated.

Census records

A little about census records. The United States has performed a census every 10 years since 1790. Some censuses are more useful in family history research than others. The 1880 Census was the first one to list ALL children by name. When Social Security was establish n 1945, the retirement age was set at 65 since you simply had to find your name on the 1880 census to prove you were 65 or above.

Census records are only as accurate as the person who gave the information, the person who recorded the information, and the person who digitized the information. If you can't find your ancestor with an immediate search (all census records through the 1940 census are now available online), try a variation of the name.

The first census that will show Karl is the 1900 census. We find him with his family, but with his name spelled "Carl":

The 1900 census also gives us information that earlier censuses did not. Charles and Harriet Vetter have been married for 18 years, so about 1882. Since both were born in Ohio, and their first three children were also born in Ohio, I am going to search Ohio for a marriage certificate.

We also have the month and year of birth for each family member. Previous censuses just gave the age at last birthday, so you never quite knew what year a person was born.

Harriet gave birth to 7 children, only 6 of which are still living. The children seem to be one to two years apart in age -- the child probably was between Nellie and Justina, so it is hard to say whether the child died in Ohio or Montana.

It would be nice to look at the 1890 census and see whether the family lived in Ohio or Montana at that time, but we can't. The 1890 census records were damaged in a fire in 1921. Although only 15% to 25% of the records were damaged, Congress authorized the destruction of the remaining records in the mid 1930's.

What else does the census tell us about Karl? In 1910, he was living with his uncle, John G. Vetter, and his aunt (John's sister), Mary C. Vetter. He is living next door to another uncle, Ernest F Vetter, and another aunt (Ernest's sister), Florence M. Vetter. All of these people are listed as farmers, although they actually owned a large ranch, now known as the Jumping Horse Ranch.

I love this picture of Karl. He looks like he is ready to take on the world!

Despite his asthma, Karl enlisted in the Navy for the Great War. On his way out of San Francisco, he sent a postcard to a lady-friend:

Karl lived in Montana the first half of his life. Tomorrow, we will meet Lois Katherine Field and see how she came to Montana. In 1932, he packed up his family with the intent of moving to Bakersfield, California, where his asthma would be better. The family never made it south of Seattle, and he died in Everett, Washington in 1960. Even in this picture, taken a year or two before his death, you sill see that handsome and hard-working man: