Peter Schuttler Wagon Works II
Life Span: 1872-1933
Location: NE Corner Clinton and Monroe Streets
22d and Rockwell (1903)
Architect: TBD
- Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1876
Schuttler Peter (Peter Schuttler and Peter Hotz) wagons, W. Monroe ne. cor Clinton, office 45 Monroe
Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1880
Schuttler’s Peter Wagon Manufactory, Schuttler & Hotz, props. 45 W. Monroe
Schuttler & Holz (Peter Schuttler and Christoph Holz) props. Peter Schuttler’s Wagon mnfy. 45 W. Monroe
Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1885
Schuttler’s Peter Wagon Manufactory, Schuttler & Hotz, props. 45 W. Monroe
Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1899
Schuttler & Hotz wagon mnfrs 45 W Monroe
Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Schuttler & Hotz, (Incorporated) 22d and Rockwell
Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911
Schuttler Peter Co manufacturers of the Peter chuttler Wagon 22d and Rockwell tel Lawndale-2402
Chicago Tribune, February 17, 1874
Peter Schuttler, wagon-manufacturer, No. 45 West Monroe street; Their full force is about 225 men; are now working 140 men on three-quarters time, at 10 per cent reduction of former wges; no complaint on account of decrease; will increase force as occasion demands.
Peter Schuttler Wagon Works Catalog, 1879
History of Chicago, by John Moses, Joseph Kirkland, 1895
The Peter Schuttler Wagon Works, of which Schuttler & Hotz are proprietors, were established in 1843 by Peter Schuttler, Sr., who died in 1865. The works were burned in the Great Fire of 1871, but plans were laid for a larger factory before the ruins were cold, and the buildings were completed by the following spring.
Soon afterward the firm added the hub and spoke factory occupying the two blocks between Sebor and Mather sts., from Beach st. to the south branch of the Chicago river. The total area occupied by the works amounts to more than ten acres, and over 400 men are employed. The capacity of the works is 12,000 wagons per year, but in these days of ready-made wagon parts this does not sufficiently express the volume of work that is done by this concern.
Messrs. Schuttler & Hotz are perhaps the only manufacturers in this line who buy the raw material alone and manufacture their own hubs, spokes, felloes, bolts, and, in short, everything that goes to make up the complete vehicle, requiring 4,000,000 feet of lumber and 20,000 tons of iron per year to keep the works busy.
The Schuttler wagon was one of the greatest civilizing influences felt in the great West. It blazed the way across the plains long before the whistle of the locomotive was heard. To-day the traveler in the far West, between the Missouri river and the Pacific ocean, can scarcely find a settlement or a ranch where Peter Schuttler’s celebrated wagons are not in use.
Schuttler’s durability, craftsmanship, and attention to detail earned the company the pinnacle of brand loyalty and a highly enviable reputation during its eighty-plus years in Chicago.
In 1863, he was one of only three Chicago, IL residents to pay taxes on an income of over $100,000. Mr. Potter Palmer and Mr. John V. Farwell were the other two Chicagoans. The house Mr. Schuttler built (on the city block bordered by Aberdeen, Adams, Morgan, and Monroe Street in Chicago) was long considered the finest mansion in Chicago. Built by J. M. Van Osdel over the span of three years, this exquisite house contained many artifacts and hand-crafted building components brought in from Germany, Mr. Schuttler’s birthplace. It is rumored that the total cost of the home was nearly $500,000, a considerable sum in the mid-19th century. It was razed in 1911.
- Scuhttler & Hotz 50th Year Anniversary Commemorative Coin
1843-1893
Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1903
Montgomery Ward & Co. have leased from Schuttler & Hotz the latter firm’s former wagon factory, a four-story building, 190x 160 feet, at the northeast corner of Clinton and Monroe streets, with four-story annex, 50×80 feet, for five years at an annual rental of $12,000. The lessees will remodel the buildings at a cost of $25,000, and use them for warehouse purposes.
- Peter Schuttler Wagon Works
Robinson Fire Insurance Map
1886
- Peter Schuttler Wagon Works
Greeley-Carlton Atlas of Chicago
1891
- Montgomery Ward Warehouse
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1906
Chicago Tribune, February 19, 1933
OLD TIMER TO MAKE WAY FOR NEW AUTO PARK
High taxes have forced the owner of the northeast corner of Clinton and Monroe streets to the conclusion that it will be cheaper to wreck and rent than hold and pay. It was announced yesterday that the four story, sixty-five year old structure, owned by Mrs. Catherine Coonley, is to be torn down. The site has been leased for five years to the Monroe-Clinton Auto Park, Inc., of which B. N. Segal is president. The lot is 160×190.
The Globe Wrecking company will start wrecking the building, which originally was the Peter Schuttler Wagon factory, on May 1. The proposed parking and service station will open about June 1. Don Snider of Baird & Warner, Inc., was broker for both parties Morris Townley and Morris Kompel were attorneys.
- Schuttler and Hotz
Lithographer: Achert & Henckel
1895
- Peter Schuttler Advertisement
1922
Chicago Tribune September 17, 1906
Peter Schuttler, millionaire wagon manufacturer and pioneer of Chicago, died yesterday morning in Langenschwalbach, Germany, at the summer residence of his brother-in-law, Adolphus Busch of St. Louis.A cablegram, briefly announcing his death, reached his Chicago home, 66 Lake Shore drive in the afternoon.
Mr. Schuttler, who was 65 years old, was spending the summer in Europe. e went abroad early in June to attend the fiftieth anniversary of his college club, “Saxonia,” of the Karlaruhe, polytechnic school, where he was educated. Afterwards he toured through various parts of Germany and was to have sailed for News York from Cherbourg on Sept. 19, the date of his birth. A little over a week ago he was taken ill with stomach trouble. He gradually grew weaker until his death.
About a year ago Mr. Schuttler was stricken with a similar illness while attending a banquet of the Chicago Commercial club. He recovered quickly, but since that time had suffered slight attacks at intervals.
He was identified prominently with the manufacturing interests of Chicago. He was president of the Peter Schuttler company, makers of wagons at Clinton and West Monroe streets, and was engaged actively in the business up to the time of his death. He had been at the head of the concern since the death of his father in 1865. Until a few years ago he was a member of the Chicago and other clubs. He retained his membership in the Chicago Commercial Club and was one of its most active workers for Chicago’s advancement.
Survived by Five Children.
Mr. Schuttler’s wife died five years ago. He is survived by his five children, four sons and one daughter. The sons all are at home in Chicago and they received no details of their father’s death except the brief dispatch. More news is expected today, when funeral arrangements will be made. The daughter, Miss Lillian Schuttler, was traveling in Europe with her father and was at his bedside at the time of his death. The four sons, who are associated in the wagon business of their father are Peter Jr., Carl, Walter and Adolph B. It is expected that Mr. Schuttler’s body will be brought home on the Kronprinz Wilhelm on Sept. 19, the same day he was to have sailed for New York.
Finishes Education in Europe.
He was born in Sandusky, O., on Sept. 19, 1841. He was brought to Chicago by his parents in 1842. His father established the wagon works at Randolph and ranklin streets in 1842. The plant was moved to its present location after the Chicago fire. Mr. Schuttler was educated in the public schools and in the Gleason preparatory school. He was sent to Karlsruhe in 1856, where he took a four years’ course in civil and mechanical engineering, graduating in honors. He entered business with his father on his return to America, and later married Miss Anheuser1, who was a sister of Mrs. Adolphus Busch. When his father died he assumed full control of the wagon manufactory. He was a republican, but was not active in politics, although he was a presidential elector at the time of Gen. Grant’s last nomination. He was a member of the Illinois state board of agriculture from 1882 to 1884. Mr. Schuttler’s chief recreation was shooting. He organized the Tolleston Shooting club. Mr. Busch’s shooting lodge, where he died, was the center of a fine game preserve.
NOTES:
1Peter II was married to Wilhelmina (Minnie) Anheuser, daughter of Eberhard Anheuser. It was Mrs. Wilhelmina Anheuser Schuttler’s sister, Lilly Anheuser, who married Adolphus Busch. Today, their direct descendants are top executives at Anheuser Busch, America’s largest brewing company.
I am currently reading The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck. I have kearned a considerable amount about the wagons and teams used on the trail. I am thoroughly enjoying my reading adventure!
JM
Indiana
I own an all original Peter Schuttler wagon.it was given to my grandfather as a gift when he turned 21. I hope to pass it on to my son .we have farmed the same ground for over 100 yrs here in Kansas.Neat history about Peter Schuttler and his life.
I have a peter schttler wagon wanting to restore it …what kind of wood was used . If any one would know
I am also reading the Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck. Excellent read!
Reading The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck, which prompted my internet search for more information about Peter Schuttler. My grandmother, her two sisters, her brother and widowed mother traveled by covered wagon from Winnepeg, Canada to Spokane, Washington in 1895 where they homesteaded 40 acres. Interesting background on a treasured albeit rough time in our history!
A friend and I have restored a Peter Schuttler wagon. We have turned it into a Chuck Wagon. Pics @ Fossil Rock Raiders Model Train Barn (on facebook)
Reading “Oregon Trail” too, and wanted to check out these wagons and see a picture of Peter’s mansion.
“Built in 1879 as a private summer residence for the two Schuttler brothers , The Inn at Pine Terrace was modeled on the design of a French nobleman’s castle near Vienna. The original owners, wagon builders from Chicago, named their estate ‘Mon Bijou’ (My Jewel). In 1988, the three story mansion was restored to its original Cream-City brick exterior. The interior was also carefully renovated, with special attention paid to the hand-carved woodwork, gracious furnishings and exquisite wall coverings.
“Mon Bijou remained in the Schuttler family for over forty years and hosted such notables as Mark Twain, several American Presidents, and many of the country’s beer brewing elite, including the Miller, Anheuser, Busch, and Pabst families, as well as railroad and industrial barons.
“The Inn at Pine Terrace is one of the last and largest of the Victorian mansions still standing in Oconomowoc today and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.”