Peter Schuttler

Background

Peter was born on December 22, 1812 in the village of Wachenheim, Grand Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt, Germany.

Career

Schuttler came to the United States in 1834 and worked first in a wagon shop in Buffalo, New York, where he was paid seven dollars a month and his board, and then in Cleveland, Ohio.

Having gathered together a little capital, he went into business for himself but he did not succeed, and after a year or two he moved to Sandusky, Ohio, where he worked at his own bench as a wagon maker for six years.

Through careful saving he had accumulated from three to four hundred dollars, and with his mind bent on opening a wagon shop he left in 1843 by boat for Chicago. He found no less than thirteen wagon shops already established in the city. Nevertheless, he went to work and made by hand the frames of several wagons, which were ironed on shares by P. W. Gates. He built his own shop and lived in a board shanty behind it. A brief interlude in the brewery business with his father-in-law was marked by failure and left him firmly decided to continue with the wagon business.

With the settlement of the western states, the demand for wagons increased. He hired a blacksmith and helper and ironed his own wagons; later he installed an eight horse-power engine, all work having previously been done by hand; in 1849, with the Gold Rush well under way, he built a new shop of brick, forty feet by seventy and four stories high, and began to manufacture buggies, carriages, and harness, as well as wagons.

Though the shop burnt to the ground in 1850, it was immediately rebuilt and he returned to the manufacture of wagons alone.

During the Civil War he refused to modify the design of his wagon in order to secure army contracts. By 1856 he had forty men at work and was turning out a hundred and thirty-five wagons a week. Up to this time, he himself worked in the plant, directed the work of his men, kept the books, and made the sales. In 1855 he traveled with his elder son, Peter, to Germany and returned to build the finest mansion in Chicago.

He died a rich man, leaving the wagon business to Peter. The name of the company remained in the list of Chicago firms for many years.

He died in 1865.

Achievements

• Peter Schuttler was the first who used of a saw instead of an axe for cutting out wagon gearing. Schuttler was one of the leading wagon makers in the United States. Although his company did not serve as a major military contractor during the Civil War, civilian demand allowed Schuttler's business to prosper. The Schuttler wagon helped to displace the old prairie schooner, prevailingly in use until 1850; it had a capacity of thirty-five hundred pounds and was very strongly made, though it was of comparatively light weight and easy running. Schuttler wagons were used as part of the famous Mormon trek to the Salt Lake, Utah region.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Peter Schuttler's Illustrated Catalogue... of Wagons

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

Personality

Schuttler had great inventive skills.

Connections

Schuttler married Dorothy Gauch, a native of Prussia, by whom he had three children, a son and a daughter born during the sojourn in Sandusky and another son born in Chicago. His wife and the three children all survived him.

Spouse:

Dorothy Gauch

elder son:

Peter Schuttler

References

• Chicago and its makers: A narrative of events from the day of the first white man to the inception of the Second World's Fair
• Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men of Chicago