Montrose County CO Archives Biographies.....Jutten, Gerhard 1839 - ?
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Judy Crook jlcrook@rof.net March 26, 2006, 8:27 am

Author: Progressive Men of Western Colorado

     Of the foreign population which has helped to make the United States great

and prosperous, probably no class has done more for the advantage of the country

than the Germans, and few if any have suffered greater hardships.  They have

gone, in many cases to the very limits of the territory within reach of help in

time of danger, and often even far beyond it, and had, in addition to all the

wild conditions of an unsettled and unpeopled land, the difficulties of a

foreign tongue to contend with, many of whose sounds are difficult for them to

make, so different from their own resonant and vigorous language.  This has been

the experience of Gerhard Jutten, of Montrose county, this state, and his

family.  When they came to this country he was forty-three years old and had no

knowledge of English at all, and his wife, although somewhat younger in years,

was as ignorant of English as himself.  The industrial triumphs they have won in

the face of great difficulties, and their mastery of the language to such an

extent that Mrs. Jutten has for years been a valued official in the school

system of their new home, are all the more to their credit, and stamp them as

persons of unusual force of character, mental power and persistent

determination.  Mr. Jutten was born in Germany in 1839, the son of Peter Jutten,

also a native of that country.  His father was a farmer there in times of peace,

and a soldier in times of war.  He was in active service in the French army at

various times, his last engagement in this organization being at the time of the

revolution of 1848 when Louis Philippe was driven from the throne and Lamartine

became the ruling spirit in France.  Mr. Jutten’s mother, whose maiden name was

Catherine Nelison, died in 1842, aged about twenty-eight years, leaving three

children, of whom he was the first born.  He grew to manhood and was educated in

his native land.  After leaving school he engaged in farming there and continued

his operations in this line until he reached the age of forty-three.  He then

came with his family, consisting of his wife and five children, to the United

States through the persuasion of his brother-in-law, John Rademacher, and after

reaching Gunnison, this state, journeyed by wagon on to his present locality,

reaching it in the spring of 1882.  He settled at first across the river from

the place on which he now lives, taking up a pre-emption claim.  Here he began

to get accustomed to his surroundings and the customs of the country, and to

facilitate his efforts in this direction sent his daughter to live in the family

of a neighbor in order that she might learn the English language and teach it to

the rest of the household.  They at once started to improve and cultivate their

land, but found themselves in the midst of great difficulties.  They had but

little money left, provisions were very costly, and the land was slow in

response to their demands for the products of modern husbandry.  With pain and

toil they struggled on, however, and every foot of progress they made was firmly

held, so that in a little time they were more comfortable, and by thrift and

persistent industry not only made their home agreeable and attractive, but

accumulated other property and extended their cattle business until now they own

about eight hundred acres of land in good condition, the most of which is

devoted to raising alfalfa and grain, and carry on one of the leading cattle

industries of the county.  Their progress in other respects has been

commensurate with that they have made in their business operations.  They have

risen to influence in the social and public life of the community, and are

recognized as important factors in all lines of its proper development and

improvement.  Mr. Jutten raises in the orchards of his own planting the best

fruit of all kinds for the use of his family, and the finest quality and most

approved breeds of cattle.  He also owns and operates a steam threshing outfit

which he makes of great service to the farmers around him and throughout a wide

scope of country.  He was married in 1869, in Germany, to Miss Wilhelmina

Rademacher, a daughter of Gerhard and Anna Gertrude (Schwilles) Rademacher,

whose families had lived in the fatherland from time immemorial.  Her father was

a wheelwright and passed all of his life in that country industriously working

at his craft, dying in 1853, at the age of sixty-five or seventy.  Mrs. Jutten

was well educated in her native land and it is strong proof of her strength and

flexibility of mind that coming to this country, as she did with five children

and having not only the cares of a large family but also domestic duties of an

unusually difficult and burdensome character on her hands, she has still

mastered the English language and given a good portion of her time to public

duties in the community, serving for a number of years as president of the local

school board and, since retiring from that office, as its treasurer.  In these

positions she has been able to give an inspiration and a quickening impulse to

the school forces of the district that have been a great value to the schools,

raising their standards and enlarging their usefulness in many important

respects.  The children born in Germany are Ida, Mary (deceased), Henry,

Gerhard, Anna, and John, Adolph and Josephine, deceased, the last three being

buried there.  Those born in America are John, Joseph, Theresia and James, all

living.  Among the people living in their part of the county no family is more

generally or more highly esteemed and none is more worthy of public regard than

the Juttens and no couple has done more for the elevation and substantial

benefit of the community than the parents of this household.  

Additional Comments:
From Progressive Men of Western Colorado.  Chicago:  A.W. Bowen & Co., 1905

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/montrose/bios/jutten465gbs.txt

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