Hutzler Trunk

When George Johann Hutzler and his family immigrated from Germany in the mid-19th century, they packed their family’s goods in this wooden trunk. After they arrived on South Manitou Island to farm in 1863, this family heirloom ended up in one of the farm’s outbuildings. The Hutzler family was one of the last to farm on South Manitou Island. The hand-made trunk is made of wide wooden boards, with each corner secured by dove-tail joints, and the trunk’s hardware is composed of hand-forged iron including the lock. Still visible on the sides are black- and red-hand-painted decorations typical of the region they came from in Germany.