Source: Portrait & Biographical Album of Whiteside County, IL
Originally published 1885 Chapman Bros., Chicago, IL

Transcribed by: Becky Jones

Pages 263-264

David R. Wetzel is a retired farmer of Hopkins Township, and resides on section 27. His parents, John and Margaret (Reese) Wetzel, were born in Pennsylvania and were of German lineage. They went thence in 1814 to Ohio, whence they came in 1855 to Whiteside County. The father, a direct descendant of Lewis Wetzel, the Indian hunter, died in Genesee Township, Sept. 18, 1860. The death of the mother occurred Feb. 2, 1882. Their children were born in the order named: Catherine, Daniel, Jacob, John, George, Elizabeth, David R., Andrew, Joseph, Hannah, Margaret and Louis.

Mr. Wetzel was born April 7, 1823, in Summit Co., Ohio. He attended the public schools of his native State, and afterwards was interested in farming there until his removal in the fall of 1855 to Whiteside County. He was a farmer in Genesee Township until the spring of 1883, when he changed his residence to Hopkins Township, where he had bought a farm during the previous fall. The combined area of his land in the townships of Genesee and Hopkins is 640 acres, and the entire extent is under tillage. He has rented his estate and is living in quiet retirement. He has built up his possessions by industry and economy, having begun in the world by small means, and has made his way unaided. He is one of the heaviest land-holders in Whiteside County, and in politics is identified with the Republican party.

The publishers of this ALBUM take pleasure in presenting a fine lithographic portrait of Mr. Wetzel in connection with this sketch.