John Fetterman
Birth Name: John Karl Fetterman
Place of Birth: West Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of Birth: August 15, 1969
Ethnicity: German, as well as distant Swiss-German and French Huguenot
John Fetterman is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, since January 3, 2023. He was previously Mayor of Braddock, PA, from January 2, 2006 to January 8, 2019, and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, from January 15, 2019 to January 3, 2023.
John is the son of Susan and Karl Fetterman. He was partly raised in York, Pennsylvania. He is married to Brazilian-American activist, philanthropist, and nonprofit executive Gisele Barreto Fetterman, with whom he has three children. Gisele had initially come to the U.S. when she was seven as an undocumented immigrant.
John is from a Pennsylvania Dutch family, descended largely from immigrants who arrived in the U.S. in the 1700s.
John’s patrilineal line can be traced to Balthasar Fetterman, who was born, c. 1713, in Neuhausen, Aurich, Niedersachsen, Germany, the son of Johann Kasimir Vettermann/Fetterman and Margaretha Elizabetha Lutz.
John’s paternal grandfather is the son of Allen J. Fetterman and Carrie I. Lehman. Allen was the son of Samuel K. Fetterman and Carolina H. Yeakel. Carrie was the daughter of Milton H. Lehman and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Fisher.
John’s paternal grandmother is the daughter of Edgar W. Houck and Emily S. Bear. Edgar was the son of Edwin G. Houck and Mary M. Wesner. Emily was the daughter of David S. Bear and Esther Knabb DeTurck.
John’s maternal grandfather was William Irwin Gruber (the son of Martin L. Gruber and Irene Brossman). William was born in Pennsylvania. Martin was the son of Adam Gruber and Catherine/Catharine Schaeffer. Irene was the daughter of Reuben Brossman and Rebecca Stricker.
John’s maternal grandmother was Bessie Mae Hartman (the daughter of Edmund Hartman and Sarah S. Heiser). Edmund was the son of Henry W. Hartman and Caroline C. Shirey. Sarah was the daughter of Mathias O. Heiser and Ida Melinda Hess.
Source: Genealogy of John Fetterman – https://www.geni.com
Pennsylvania German is an ancestry category in the United States Census and includes German, Swiss-German, and Alsatian (The last of which should also be a category to be mentioned in one’s ethnic mix.)
https://scholar.valpo.edu/usmaps/56/
The U.S. Census has not historically asked for nor listed specific ancestry groups, only broad racial categories.
Whichever ethnic groups Alsatians are verified as descended from are listed.
Actually, the US Census bureau has had an ancestry question since 1980.
Here is a list of categories:
https://namecensus.com/ancestry/
The category for Pennsylvania German:
https://namecensus.com/ancestry/pennsylvania-german/
I like him. he has a good sense of humor