The Guenther family appears to have originated in Switzerland. Members of the family converted to the Anabaptist movement and were forced to flee first to Moravia and later to the valley of the Vistula in Poland and west Prussia. Eventually members of the family became Mennonites and moved to the Ukraine where a number of Germans were settling. One of the Guenthers to move there was Franz Günther (1827-1900) who married Maria Warkentin and was the father of six children. In 1878 Franz, Maria and four of their children immigrated to America. They settled in South Dakota where one of the children, Cornelius F. Guenther (185301934) married Eva Dürksen and was the father of fourteen children. Their many descendants live throughout the United States.