Johanna Christina Fienger was born Oct 1, 1828, near Seidenberg in the German province of Silesia.¹ She later met and married Johann Gottfried Kutter. Their first two children, Augusta and Wilhelm, were born in Germany, before they decided to emigrate (along with her father, Johann Fienger) to America in 1854. After their arrival in New York City on September 6, 1854, they settled in Peru, Illinois. They lived here for their first year. From there they moved to a farm north of Peru, where they lived for almost 20 years. It was on this farm that their next three children were born. Altogether they had five children, four boys and one girl. In 1874, they purchased a farm near Compton, Illinois where they spent their remaining years. While here, they were faithful members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in the rural Compton area. On Nov 23, 1907, Johanna suffered a stroke while preparing dinner and passed away shortly thereafter. The funeral was held Nov. 26, 1907, at Immanuel Lutheran with Rev. August Goebel officiating. Burial was in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery.

¹Silesia (Schlesien in German) was part of Germany until 1945, when most of it, including Seidenberg, became part of Poland. As a result, many of the German people in this area migrated into Germany, and the population of this area was replaced by Poles. Seidenberg's name was changed to Zawidów.

Children:
• Ernestine Auguste "Augusta" Kutter (1849-1897) [William C. Bruchner]
• William E Kutter (1851-1935) [Julie Graf]
• Gottfried Heinrich "Henry" Kutter (1855-1921) [Anna Barbara "Barb" Kaiser]
• Herman August Louis Kutter (1862-1944) [Wilhelmina "Minnie" Schwichtenberg]
• Ludwig W. "Louis" Kutter (1870-1945) [Elizabeth "Sadie" Schmidt]