Melchior Thoni, Jr
1849 - 1926
One of the original Swiss settlers of Gruetli in 1869, Melchior Thoni become one of the most famous woodcarvers of Tennessee, executing carvings in the old Governor’s Mansion and the altar of Christ Church in Nashville. About 1880, among his many sculptural enterprises Thoni designed and carved the first wooden animals to stand upon a “Flying Jenny” (merry-go-round) in Tennessee.
Marker is on Tennessee Route 108 0.3 miles west of 18th Avenue, on the left when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
