The John Etter Line, Upward: John C. Etter of Marcellus, Cass County, Michigan

Researched 2026-10-25. Free public records only, no fees, no accounts, deceased people only. Background: line-b-etter-cropsey-michigan.md and line-b2-etter-records.md. Jobs: (1) name Lewis A. Etter's mother, John C. Etter's wife; (2) list John's children and test Charles E. Etter (1858-1938) as Lewis's brother; (3) settle John's origin, New York vs Pennsylvania, and his path through Ohio to Michigan.

Bottom line

• Lewis's mother is still not named in full by any record read, but there is now a strong candidate: Mary A. Etter (1827-1894), whose stone stands in the family's Bly Cemetery lot beside John C. She is the only adult woman in the lot, she outlived John C. by 11 years, and her age fits the mother of every child in the lot. Her candidacy was STRENGTHENED on 2026-10-25: Charles E. Etter's death certificate names his mother as "Mary" (maiden name written Unknown), so the children's mother was named Mary. Mary A. stays CANDIDATE because her maiden name is still unknown and no record yet calls her John's wife in words. Proof is still one record away (see section 5).
• John C. Etter's death date is now stone-confirmed: May 24, 1883, age 66 years 8 months 24 days, which puts his birth at about August 30, 1816 (computed from the stone, labeled as computed). This kills the "24 Mar 1883" date carried by an Ancestry-tree snippet; the stone and WikiTree agree on May 24.
• A new son candidate surfaced: John Etter, died February 20, 1874, age 21, buried in the same lot. He fits as the eldest son, two years older than Lewis.
• Charles E. Etter as Lewis's brother: VERIFIED at record level (update 2026-10-25). Charles's own death certificate (read 2026-10-25, see section 4) names his father as John Etter, exactly as Lewis's certificate does. Two certificates naming the same father, plus the shared Lot 107 and the 1888 Cass County case where Charles Etter and Lewis Etter were tried together as co-defendants (People v. Charles Etter and Lewis Etter, 72 Mich. 175), support the brother relationship at record level.
• Gertrude of Lot 107 is Charles's WIFE, VERIFIED (update 2026-10-25): Gertrude (Fragee) Etter (b. February 2, 1875; d. August 1, 1933, Kalamazoo), daughter of Fred Fragee and Lillian Vincent, husband Charles Etter named on her certificate. The 1875-1933 stone reading is correct; the 1913 reading is retired.
• Origin stays split, and sharpens: Lewis's death certificate (informant his son Ernest) says his father was born in New York State; the only source for Pennsylvania as John's birthplace is the unsourced WikiTree profile. But Charles's certificate gives Charles's own birthplace as Pennsylvania (1858), so the family was in Pennsylvania in 1858 whatever John's own birthplace was. Both readings stay flagged.

1. VERIFIED: the Bly Cemetery family lot (Lot 107)

The MIGenWeb Bly Cemetery reading (cemetery read in the 1990s by Amelia Castle and Nancy Corwin), page 7, lots 101-150, lists five Etter stones in ONE lot, Lot 107: Source: http://www.migenweb.org/cass/cemeteries/Bly/bly_7.htm (cemetery home: https://www.migenweb.org/cass/cemeteries/blycem.htm)

Facts this settles:

• John C. Etter died May 24, 1883. The stone reading agrees with WikiTree's "24 May 1883" (WikiTree surname index: https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/ETTER). The Ancestry-snippet lead on file (John C. Etter b. 28 Jun 1816 PA, d. 24 Mar 1883, father Samuel Etter, mother Christina Ruff) now conflicts with the stone on the death month AND sits about two months off the stone-computed birth. The Samuel Etter / Christina Ruff parentage stays UNPROVEN and the whole snippet should be trusted less than before.
• The "1817" birth year used for John is consistent with the stone within rounding: a man born about Aug 30, 1816 shows as 1816 or 1817 depending on the record's date.
• Charles E. Etter's 1858-1938 dates from wave 1 are confirmed by the lot reading.

Gertrude date conflict, RESOLVED 2026-10-25: the Bly reading gives Gertrude Etter 1875-1913, but PeopleLegacy's burial index lists a Gertrude Etter 1875-1933, born in Michigan, at Marcellus (https://peoplelegacy.com/burial-records/gertrude/etter/). Her death certificate has now been read (line-b2-etter-records.md, section 11.1): Gertrude (Fragee) Etter, born February 2, 1875, died August 1, 1933, at Bronson Hospital, Kalamazoo. The 1933 reading is correct; 1913 was a weathered-stone misread and is retired.

2. VERIFIED: Charles and Lewis Etter, co-defendants, Cass County, 1888

The People v. Charles Etter and Lewis Etter, 72 Mich. 175 (1888), 40 N.W. 241. Official Michigan Reports, vol. 72: https://courts.michigan.gov/496932/siteassets/publications/msc-bound-volumes/1-100/bv_mi72_final.pdf (also https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/people-v-etter-896713835)

• Captioned "The People v. Charles Etter and Lewis Etter," on error to Cass County, argued October 17, 1888, decided October 26, 1888.
• The two were convicted together of larceny before a justice of the peace ($50 fine and 60 days each); the Michigan Supreme Court affirmed.
• This is a hard record placing Charles Etter and Lewis Etter side by side in Cass County five years after John C.'s death, acting together closely enough to be tried together. It does not state their relationship, so it corroborates the brother hypothesis without proving it.

A second case, People v. Etter, 81 Mich. 570 (1890), 45 N.W. 1109, is also a Cass County circuit court appeal (decided June 27, 1890; conviction reversed): https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/people-v-etter-897031732. The respondent's first name does not appear in the text available, so this case is NOT attributed to Charles, Lewis, or any other named Etter. It is recorded only as: an Etter was tried in Cass County in 1888-1890 on a serious charge and won reversal.

3. CANDIDATE: Mary A. Etter (1827-1894), wife of John C. and mother of Lewis

Evidence for:

• She is the only adult woman buried in the John C. Etter family lot (Lot 107), the classic shared-lot wife position under the follow-the-gravestones method.
• Born 1827, she was about 25 when John (the younger) was born about 1852, about 27 at Lewis's birth in 1854, and about 31 at Charles's birth in 1858. Every age fits.
• She died in 1894, eleven years after John C. (1883): the widow pattern.
• No competing woman appears anywhere in the Etter stones read at Bly (pages 1-4 and 7-16 of the reading scanned this project; see section 6).

Evidence added 2026-10-25: Charles E. Etter's death certificate names his mother as "Mary," with the maiden name and birthplace both written Unknown (line-b2-etter-records.md, section 11.2). The children's mother was therefore named Mary, which fits Mary A. of Lot 107 and no other woman found. This strengthens the candidacy; it does not close it.

Evidence still missing: no record read yet calls Mary A. John's wife or Lewis's mother in words, and her maiden name is unknown (Charles's certificate expressly leaves it unknown). WikiTree also has no mother attached to Lewis (his profile, Etter-844, carries a father link, WikiTree person Id 43911650, and mother "none"): https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Etter-844. The records that could prove her are ranked in section 7. Until one lands, she stays CANDIDATE, strong.

Do not merge caution: GenealogyTrails' Cass County deaths page lists a "Mary A., widow of W. V. Bucklen, b. Sandusky Co. OH 1820, d. Marcellus Jan 26, 1894" (https://genealogytrails.com/mich/cass/death.html). That is Mary A. Bucklin, a different woman who also died at Marcellus in 1894. Name, place, and year all collide; the stone in Lot 107 (1827-1894) is the Etter one.

4. The children of John C. Etter (enumeration)

From Lot 107 plus the records already on file:

Gertrude Etter is NOT a child of this family; she is Charles E. Etter's wife, VERIFIED 2026-10-25. Her death certificate (asset 005237617_00489, https://michigan.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_ade9fc5b-b223-4652-b13a-d2e2bdd11c2a/) reads: Gertrude Etter, maiden name Fragee, born February 2, 1875, daughter of Fred Fragee and Lillian Vincent, husband Charles Etter, residence Marcellus, occupation housekeeper, died August 1, 1933, at Bronson Hospital, Kalamazoo (terminal cardiac failure with a massive ruptured ovarian cyst; operation July 31, 1933), buried Marcellus August 3, 1933. Informant Mrs. Viola [surname illegible], Marcellus. Her birthplace field is illegible (possibly Bangor, Michigan; not asserted). Full transcription: line-b2-etter-records.md, section 11.1. This closes the daughter alternative and the 1913 vs 1933 question at once: 1933 is correct.

This enumeration is a floor, not a ceiling. Daughters who married out would not lie in Lot 107, and the 1870 and 1880 household member lists sit on census images not yet read (1870: NARA M593, film 004271416, image 170, page 6, Lewis age 14 at Marcellus; 1880: sheet 485A above). The households may add children the stones do not show.

Charles test, verdict (final): his 1938 death certificate names his father as John Etter, the same father Lewis's certificate names. Charles as John's son is VERIFIED, and Charles and Lewis as brothers is supported at record level. The earlier candidate framing (same lot + tried together in 1888) is now corroboration, not the basis.

5. John's origin and path: New York vs Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan

• New York reading: Lewis's 1928 Michigan death certificate gives his father's birthplace as "New York State" (transcribed in full, line-b2-etter-records.md section 10; certificate: https://michigan.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_d84a32b3-18b1-4192-a482-a4e91aabfcd2/). Informant: Lewis's son Ernest. One step removed, but a primary record.
• Pennsylvania reading: WikiTree's profile line for John (b. 1817 Pennsylvania, d. 24 May 1883 Michigan; https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/ETTER), with no source read behind the birthplace. The death date on that profile is now stone-confirmed, which raises the profile's general credit, but the Pennsylvania birthplace itself remains unsourced.
• The Samuel Etter / Christina Ruff lead (Ancestry tree snippet, parents of John in Pennsylvania) is weakened: its death date for John (24 Mar 1883) is contradicted by the stone. UNTESTED against Pennsylvania records; do not build on it.
• Pennsylvania, new anchor (2026-10-25): Charles E. Etter's death certificate gives his own birthplace as Pennsylvania, born May 1, 1858. The family was therefore in Pennsylvania in 1858, whatever John's own birthplace was. This is the first primary record tying this Etter family to Pennsylvania.
• Ohio: Lewis's death-certificate INDEX gives his birthplace as Ohio (his certificate itself says Volinia; conflict already on file, both readings kept). If the younger John was also Ohio-born (unknown), the family was in Ohio by about 1852; on Lewis's index reading alone, by September 1854. With Charles Pennsylvania-born in 1858, the path on current evidence runs Pennsylvania to Ohio to Marcellus, and the Lewis birthplace conflict (Ohio vs Volinia) stays flagged rather than resolved.
• Michigan: Lewis is at Marcellus by the 1870 census (age 14) and in John's household there in 1880. John C. died at Marcellus May 24, 1883. The move window is therefore about 1854 to 1870. John's 1860 household (Ohio or Michigan) was NOT retrieved this pass; it is the single record that would narrow the window and name the whole family, Mary included.
• Cluster: no Etter cluster John "came from" can be named on free records yet. Pennsylvania holds deep Etter clusters (Franklin, Cumberland, York, Dauphin counties) and New York holds Palatine-descended Etters in the Hudson Valley; both are background only until a record ties John to one.

Probate: Cass County probate estate files, ca. 1857-1883, survive at the State Archives of Michigan (FamilySearch catalog entry: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/701751). No free online name index to them was found. John's 1883 estate file, if one exists, would name the widow and heirs directly; reaching it is an archive/courthouse route, not a free web route.

6. Verified negatives and scan status

• MIGenWeb Cass County death index 1867-1960 contains ZERO Etter entries (a find on the full page returns only "Shetterly"): http://www.migenweb.org/cass/dea1867to1960.htm. Proven incomplete for this family: it omits Lewis (d. 1928) and Jane (d. 1925), both Cass deaths with state certificates. Its silence on John C. (1883), John the younger (1874), and Mary A. (1894) is therefore NOT evidence against them.
• GenealogyTrails Cass County obituaries: no Etter entry. http://genealogytrails.com/mich/cass/obit.html
• Preservica (Archives of Michigan) Cass County search, 18 Etter results read: certificates for Lewis A. and Jane (both already transcribed), plus Lynn B., Kenneth D., Iva Iona Etter and a Mary Etter Warr. No Charles E. Etter certificate appears under Cass, and a statewide "Etter Charles" keyword search surfaced none either (results were corporation and tax-roll records). Superseded 2026-10-25: his certificate WAS in the collection, filed under Wayne County (Detroit), where he died, indexed as "Chas E Etter," asset 005362047_02995, and has now been read in full (line-b2-etter-records.md, section 11.2). The Cass silence was a county-of-death artifact, not a missing record. Search: https://michigan.access.preservica.com/?s=Etter+Cass
• Bly reading scan status: pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 read (lots 1-92 and 101-550). Etter appears ONLY in Lot 107. Page 5 failed to fetch in an earlier pass and stays an accepted gap (about lots 93-100). Pages 17-33 (lots 551 and up) are NOT yet scanned; Lewis and Jane's own lot is presumably there (their Bly burial itself is verified: Find a Grave #111164669 and both death certificates say buried at Marcellus). Near-miss on page 16: YETTER, Abram B (1856-1926), lot 528, a different surname, not merged.
• Repeated web searches for a record naming John C.'s wife, a Charles E. Etter obituary (1938), and a John C. Etter biography in the Cass County histories returned nothing usable.

7. Records that would settle the open items, ranked

1. DONE 2026-10-25: Gertrude Etter's death certificate, READ. Archives of Michigan (Preservica), Kalamazoo County, asset 005237617_00489: https://michigan.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_ade9fc5b-b223-4652-b13a-d2e2bdd11c2a/. Result: Gertrude (Fragee) Etter, Charles's wife, died August 1, 1933; the 1933 stone reading is correct. Full transcription: line-b2-etter-records.md, section 11.1.
2. DONE 2026-10-25: Charles E. Etter's 1938 death certificate, FOUND AND READ. It sat under Wayne County (Detroit), indexed "Chas E Etter," asset 005362047_02995: https://michigan.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_547e3dee-ec00-4ae9-9973-c5eba13f367a/. Result: father John Etter named (Charles VERIFIED as John's son; the brother test is closed at record level), mother named "Mary" with maiden name Unknown (Mary A. candidacy strengthened, not closed). Full transcription: line-b2-etter-records.md, section 11.2.
3. The 1870 and 1880 household images (citations in section 4): the standing route is a signed-in FamilySearch session. The 1880 FamilySearch record page returned 403 to text fetch in wave 2 and is not to be retried that way.
4. Mary A. Etter's 1894 Cass County death register entry (state register era 1867-1897; the online Cass index is proven incomplete, so this means the register itself, courthouse or archive route). Now the top remaining record for her: it could give her maiden name, the one field Charles's certificate left unknown.
5. John C. Etter's 1883 Cass County probate (section 5): would name the widow and every heir.
6. Bly reading pages 17-33 for Lewis and Jane's lot and any later Etter lots.
7. John's WikiTree profile itself (person Id 43911650, attached as Lewis's father): the API read was rate-limited (HTTP 429) in this pass; a later session can read it to see whether its editor cited anything for "Pennsylvania."

Fold-in summary (what changed in FAMILY-TREE-v1.md)

• John C. Etter: death date now stone-confirmed May 24, 1883; birth about Aug 1816 (computed from stone age) alongside the standing 1817.
• Lewis's mother: was "unknown"; now "unknown, with a strong candidate: Mary A. Etter (1827-1894) of Lot 107."
• New candidate son: John Etter (about 1852 - Feb 20, 1874).
• Charles E. Etter: brother candidacy strengthened (Lot 107 + 1888 co-defendant record).
• Gertrude Etter added to the lot picture as candidate wife of Charles, with the 1913/1933 conflict flagged.

Fold-in update (2026-10-25, Charles E. and Gertrude certificates read)

• Charles E. Etter: was CANDIDATE son and brother; now VERIFIED son of John Etter by his own death certificate (Detroit, Wayne Co., d. Dec 20, 1938; b. May 1, 1858 as read, Pennsylvania; one-day age inconsistency flagged). Charles and Lewis as brothers is supported at record level (both certificates name father John Etter).
• The children's mother: now known by first name, Mary (Charles's certificate; maiden name and birthplace written Unknown). Mary A. Etter (1827-1894) of Lot 107 stays CANDIDATE as that Mary, strengthened.
• Gertrude Etter: was candidate wife with an open 1913/1933 conflict; now VERIFIED as Charles's wife, nee Fragee (b. Feb 2, 1875; d. Aug 1, 1933, Kalamazoo), daughter of Fred Fragee and Lillian Vincent. 1933 is the correct stone reading.
• Origin: Charles's Pennsylvania birth (1858) is the first primary record tying the family to Pennsylvania; John's own birthplace stays split (New York per Lewis's certificate vs Pennsylvania per unsourced WikiTree). Path on current evidence: Pennsylvania to Ohio to Marcellus, with Lewis's birthplace conflict (Ohio vs Volinia) still flagged.