William Gettle

Article summary

William F. Gettle (c. 1887 – December 22, 1941) was an American businessman and millionaire. He gained some notoriety when he was kidnapped in 1934. Gettle was originally from Oklahoma, and moved to Bakersfield, California, in 1915, where he worked for JCPenney and invested in oil fields. The 1920 United States Census showed he was living in Kern, California. At the time of the kidnapping, Gettle weighed 500 pounds, and he and his handicapped wife Fleeta had four children, all of whom were under 10 years of age. One of their neighbors was comedian Joe E. Brown. According to the Los Angeles Times, he was worth around $3,500,000.

Key claims

1. date of death: 1935-07-02 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of death: 1941-12-22 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of death is "1935-07-02". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of death is "1941-12-22". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.