John Kuettel was born in Switzerland in 1856 and emigrated in 1882. He worked for many years as a stone cutter in St. Paul raising his family here. John married Katherine Youngman. They had five children, Wilhelmina, John, Charles, Alfred and Rose.

Kuettel was active in the Union and served as a delegate to the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly in 1901. He eventually bought a farm in West St. Paul and moved there.