Franklin Setzer (1821-1910) was a Catawba County, North Carolina farmer. In October 1863 he was mustered into McRae’s Battallion of North Carolina Cavalry at Camp Vance near Morganton in Burke County. The Battallion served in the western part of the state (with some incursions into East Tennessee) until about June 1, 1864 when McRae’s Battalion was disbanded and many of the men, including Setzer, transferred to the 1st North Carolina Cavalry. He spent the rest of the war around Petersburg, Virginia.

Franklin Setzer married Caroline Wilson in 1847, and the 1860 census records the couple as having four children: Sophrona 12, Harriett 10, Waightstel 3, and Josiah 11 months. Franklin Setzer’s great-grandfather, Jacob Setzer, was born in Mainz, Germany about 1730, and emigrated to North Carolina sometime before the birth of his son, John Setzer, in Rowan County, North Carolina about 1754. John Setzer died in Lincoln County in March 1822. His son, Daniel Setzer (Franklin Setzer’s father), was born ca. 1790 in a part of Lincoln County, North Carolina which later became Catawba County.

Franklin Setzer had a cousin named Franklin A. Setzer (b. ca. 1830) who was also from Catawba County and who served in Co. C, 28th North Carolina Infantry. The were both descended from Jacob Setzer through John Setzer and the two are easily confused. The surname is also spelled Sitzer and Satzer in military records.