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| Emma Vetter as a teen |
Emma
was the closest in age to my grandmother Anna of the five Vetter sisters. She was the fifth daughter born to George Vetter and Katherine Neumeyer. Emma was
born November 9, 1891 after the family had moved to 1328 West 20
th
Street in Chicago, Illinois.When
the 1900 census was taken Emma was a student in the Chicago school district as
were two of her older sisters Mary and Elizabeth “Lizzie”. Emma attended school
through the fifth grade. Then like her older sister Kate, Emma took a job while
still in her teens. She was only twelve when her mother died in 1904 which
undoubtedly impacted Emma’s life and forced her to grow up fast.
At
twenty Emma married Anthony “Tony” DeMarco on December 6, 1911. They were
married in Los Angeles by a Justice of the Peace with Emma’s sister Mary as one
of the witnesses. At that time Emma was living at 1037Albany Street and she was
employed as a housekeeper while Tony was living at 850 East 32nd
Street and working as an elevator operator.
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| Emma and Tony left with Anna and Lewis |
Tony
was born in Los Angeles in 1889. He was the son of Donato DeMarco and Rose
Gagliano. Tony worked for the City of Los Angeles for much of his life and was
working as a truck driver when the 1940 census was taken.
Emma
was twenty-one when her father died and twenty-four when her first child was
born – a daughter Rose DeMarco who was born in 1915, followed by a son George
Denota DeMarco in 1917, Irene DeMarco in 1922, and another son John Gene
DeMarco in 1927. The family lived in Los Angeles during the time the children
were born. Then by 1930 they had moved to 8415 South San Pedro Street – also in
Los Angeles County, and they were still at the San Pedro address ten years
later when the 1940 census was taken.
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Emma and Anna with rifles -
wonder what they were up to |
Rose
DeMarco was my grandmother’s favorite niece. I remember our going to visit Rose
and her husband Nick Spindler at their farm in Greenfield in Monterey County,
California. I was 13 at the time and Rose told me I could go into the barn and
collect the chicken eggs. I distinctly recall feeling uneasy about this
assignment – fearing the chickens might resist but I managed to accomplish the
task unharmed.
Emma
survived the death of two of her sisters and her husband, and the marriage of
at least one of her children before she died at the age of 73 from a heart
attack on May 18, 1965. She is buried somewhere in Los Angeles but I don’t know
exactly where.
Sources
for this Post:
1900 – 1940 censuses, birth, marriage and death records for Emma, Chris Dixon,
my mother’s photos, my grandmother Anna’s bible notes, MyHeritage, Ancestry and
FamilySearch websites.
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| Emma Vetter portrait from Chis Dixon's collection |
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Rose and her husband Nick Spindler
|
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Nick and Rose with their son who was
killed in a truck accident. |
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Emma's sister Anna with her two granddaughters Kathy and
Chris Pattillo. Anna holding the freshly gathered eggs. Taken
at Rose and Nick Spindler's home in Greenfield, CA. |
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| Emma's birth record |
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| Emma and Tony's marriage record |
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| Rose and Nick 1963 |
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| L-R Mary, Anna and Emma Vetter |
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| Emma and Tony DeMarco |
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