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KETTERER, JOSEPH M. - Pawnee is the home of some very prosperous business men who have located there because of the advantages offered by its location and the trade it controls. One of those who have proven this to be a good location in every sense of the word, Joseph M. Ketterer, born in Montgomery County, Pa., January 18, 1842, a son of John Ketterer, born in Germany about 1800. By trade the father was a tinner, and worked at his trade in Baden Baden, his native place. There he married, bringing his wife to the United States with him, but she died in Pennsylvania. He later married Katherine Hummer, the mother of Joseph M., John, Jacob, Joseph and Henry, and two who are deceased. John Ketterer is now living in Iowa, where the father moved, and where both parents passed away. The grandparents on the paternal side, were natives of Germany and never left their native land.

Joseph M. Ketterer remained at home until he was eighteen years of age, growing up fond of outdoor sport and dancing. He declares that he has often walked five miles for the privilege of dancing. His educational advantages were limited to those offered by the country schools, but he learned the tinner's trade and has followed it the greater part of his life. At eighteen years of age he went to Clinton, Iowa, to work for his brother, but after two years there, entered the firm of Young & Armstrong, remaining with them for three years. Following this he moved to Edinburg and went into business for himself. In 1890 he came to Pawnee, opening a tinner's shop, and has since continued in this line of business, building up an excellent trade.

Mr. Ketterer was married in Clinton, Iowa, April 24, 1869, to Priscilla Mattes, born in Germany, but brought by her parents to the United States. They located at Lyons, Iowa, where both parents died, having had children as follows: Joseph, John, Mrs. Ketterer, Annie, William, Emeline, Frederick and Rose, one son being a Catholic priest. Her grandparents were Germans, who never left their native land. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ketterer: Charles R., born in Lyons, Iowa, November 7, 1870, married and living near Pawnee, four children: Frederick C., born in Lyons, Iowa, July 18, 1872, married and living in Pawnee; Rosa R., born in Edinburg, Ill., April 19, 1876, married and residing in Iowa; Jessie P., born in Edinburg, December 28, 1882, married and living in Chicago, three children; and Percy, who was born in Clinton, Iowa, February 26, 1879, and died in Edinburg, in 1899. The military spirit is inherited in the Ketterer family, for John Ketterer served his term in the German army in the Franco-Prussian War, receiving a wound in his side, which was dangerous, but not fatal; and his grandson, was a soldier in the Spanish-American War, seeing service in Porto Rica.

For a number of years Mr. Ketterer has been a member of the Odd Fellows. He and his family belong to the Lutheran Church and are interested in its good work. A stanch Democrat, Mr. Ketterer is prominent in the councils of his party. An excellent business man, a good citizen, and a devoted husband and father, Mr. Ketterer combines the virtues of both the German and American nations, and is proud of his descent. His children do him credit, and show the results of careful rearing and the influence of a Christian home.