Gutensohn planing mill, Gnadenhutten, Ohio

The Jacob GUTENSOHN planing mill in Gnadenhutten, Ohio. On the left is Jake, born 18 September 1848 in Hundsbach, Rheinland, Prussia. He came to America in 1869, and married Catherine PETRY 14 April 1873 in Tuscarawas Co., Ohio. He died 10 December 1932 in Gnadenhutten.

His daughter Mabel wrote in her genealogy of the GUTENSOHN and PETRY families, "He was a wagon maker and made quite a number of wheels each day. He opened a planing mill in Gnaden and made quite a modern mill out of it. He built the Moravian Church and Parsonage in 1903 and quite a number of other large buildings and homes; another building he built was the Purell schoolhouse.... He had several serious accidents at the mill; he cut the ends off all the fingers of his right hand, then three fingers off the left hand."

His niece Jo wrote, "I remember that Grandma was a little taller than Grandpa. He did have a sense of humor. When I was in grade school he visited us in Enid, OK on his way to, or from, Florida where he visited his brother, Philip. He wrote a letter to Uncle Philip and asked me to read it to my mother. I couldn't read it because he had written it in German! He thought that was pretty funny. He also brought us some sea shells from Florida which I still have."

The boy hanging on the fence is probably Jake's youngest son Elmer GUTENSOHN (1895-1974).

Photograph collection of J. Smith.