Unknown Vetters

Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales

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Biography

This infant is identified as the infant son of H. C. and R. A. Vetters. This would indicate that his parents are Herman Clement Vetters and Rebecca Ann Vetters nee Thomas. Herman was born Sept. 21, 1855 in Nuecestown and died April 10, 1932. He was a member of the pioneer band that defended the settlements against raids and at least 3 times he helped herd cattle on the trails to Kansas (his obit in Caller, 11 April 1932, page 1A). His mother had come to this country from Hanover and his father from Hamburg, Germany—moving to this area about 1853. Rebecca, the daughter of Isom H. Thomas and Martha Lee Simms, was born June 29, 1866 on the Laureles Ranch where her father was a caporal, and she died on May 11, 1934. Clem and Rebecca married on March 6, 1883 in Nueces County. She was a nurse who was known at the time of her death as "unselfish and untiring in that capacity" (Caller, 12 May 1934 page 2). Though both Herman Clem and Rebecca Ann are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery of Corpus Christi, they have many relatives buried in Old Bayview Cemetery. Rebecca's relatives in this cemetery also include her parents, her sister Aseneath Thomas-Downs, and her brother-in-law Ferdinand Howell (married to Minnie J. Thomas). In the 1900 census Rebecca acknowledges that of the 4 children she has borne, only 3 survive (1900 census, Nueces County, E.D. 130 page 3B). The surviving children are: Charley (born 1885), Julia (June of 1887), and Lelia (August of 1889).

 

Research and transcription: Michael A. Howell