Fetzer was born on July 8, 1840, in the Grand Duchy of Hessen, in present day Germany. As a child, he emigrated to the United States with his parents aboard the ship Edwina, arriving at the harbor of New York City. They immediately went west to Albany, New York, then to Buffalo, where they took a boat through the Great Lakes to Wisconsin. They arrived at the port of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in June 1850, a month after landing at New York City.
