August Guenther, Wholesale Dealer in Fine Whiskies

According to History of Erie County, Ohio, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich (Mason and Co., 1889), August Guenther was born in Westphalia, Prussia in 1848 to Mr. and Mrs. John Guenther. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1869, first settling in Texas. Soon after arriving in Sandusky, Ohio in 1872, August Guenther became involved in the making of wine and grape brandy. The jug pictured above advertised "fine whiskies" made by Mr. Guenther as well. Below is a letterhead from his business, as seen on an online auction site.

During some of his time in business, August Guenther was in a partnership with his son Bruno. For several years his business partner was John J. Molter, former Sandusky Mayor. The company eventually went out of business due to the enactment of Prohibition laws.

In 1873 August Guenther married Sophia Kolbe. They had a family of three sons. Dr. Theodore Guenther became of physician with a practice in Brooklyn, New York. Son August E. Guenther was a professor of physiology at both the University of Michigan and the University of Nebraska. Sadly, Bruno Guenther died in 1910, after he suffered serious complications following a scratch from a copper wire. The elder August Guenther died on December 19, 1932, and he was buried in the family lot at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.