Biography of Dr. Bodo Otto Jr.
Family Background
Bodo Otto Jr. was born into a German medical family with deep professional, religious, and community ties that shaped his early life and career. His father, Dr. Bodo Otto Sr., was born in Germany and trained as a physician and surgeon before becoming Chief Surgeon for the District of Sharzfels at Sharzfels Castle in the Harz Mountains. Dr. Otto Sr. served for twelve years as Chief Surgeon at the fortress of Kalkberg and was formally recognized for his medical skill and fidelity by Dr. Henry Christian Kruger, the official physician of Luneburg. Economic hardship in the Harz Mountains and the death of Dr. Otto Sr.’s father, Christopher Otto, in 1752 contributed to his decision to emigrate to the American colonies.
Dr. Otto Sr. married Catharina Dorothea Dahncken in April 1742. Catharina was the daughter of Johann Dahncken and may have been of noble birth. She appears to have had independent means and likely commissioned formal portraits of herself and her husband. Together, they had several children. Their first son, Frederick Christopher Otto, was born on August 22, 1743. Their first daughter, Dorothea-Sophia Otto, was born on November 6, 1744, and died on February 28, 1748, being buried in Luneburg in the same cemetery as Dr. Otto Sr.’s first wife, Elizabeth. Their second son, Bodo Otto Jr., was born on September 14, 1748, in Luneburg, Germany. Their third son, John Augustus Otto, was born on July 30, 1751. Bodo Otto Jr. also had an older half-sister, Maria Elizabeth Otto, from his father’s earlier marriage. Maria Elizabeth later married in Philadelphia after 1755 and died in New Jersey in 1768.
Between 1748 and 1750, the Otto family moved from Luneburg to a new home in the Harz Mountains, in the Sharzfels district of Germany. In 1750, Dr. Otto Sr. took an oath of fidelity for his position as Chief Surgeon of the district. On May 10, 1755, the family emigrated from Lauterberg, Germany, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, arriving in October and settling there by December 16, 1755. Following a smallpox outbreak during the winter of 1755–1756, Dr. Otto Sr. moved his medical practice to Germantown in 1756. In Germantown, he worked closely with Dr. Christopher Witt, a Pietist physician associated with the religious community influenced by Kelpius.
The Otto family maintained ties to both Pennsylvania and New Jersey during Bodo Otto Jr.’s childhood, including a house in New Jersey at some point before 1768. The family was associated with Lutheran congregations in Germantown and the Cohansey District, and Dr. Otto Sr. was active in professional, political, and scientific circles, including membership in the American Philosophical Society organized by Benjamin Franklin. After Catharina’s death in 1765, Dr. Otto Sr. remarried Maria Margaretta Paris, an Englishwoman who, like him, was considered “of this city” in Philadelphia records. The Otto children were trained in medicine under their father, and all three sons would later assist him during the Revolutionary War in military hospitals across Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Biographical Timeline
September 14, 1748
- Bodo Otto Jr. was born in Luneburg, Germany, the second son of Dr. Bodo Otto Sr. and Catharina Dorothea Dahncken, into a household already shaped by medicine, Lutheran faith, and professional status.
Between 1748 and 1750
- During Bodo Otto Jr.’s infancy, his family moved from Luneburg to a new home in the Harz Mountains, in the Sharzfels district of Germany, where his father held an official surgical appointment.
May 10, 1755
- At the age of six, Bodo Otto Jr. emigrated with his family from Lauterberg, Germany, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, traveling with his mother Catharina, his father Dr. Otto Sr., his older half-sister Maria Elizabeth Otto, his older brother Frederick Christopher Otto, and his younger brother John Augustus Otto.
By December 16, 1755
- After arriving in October, the Otto family was fully settled in Philadelphia, marking the beginning of Bodo Otto Jr.’s childhood in the American colonies.
1756
- Following a severe smallpox outbreak in Philadelphia during the winter of 1755–1756, Dr. Otto Sr. relocated his medical practice to Germantown, where Bodo Otto Jr. spent part of his youth and was exposed early to his father’s medical work.
1758
- Records from Germantown indicate the presence of a German woman serving in the Otto household, reflecting the family’s established domestic life and continued use of German-speaking community networks.
1762
- By this year, Bodo Otto Jr. and his older brother Frederick Christopher Otto were studying medicine under their father at his Germantown office, formally beginning Bodo Otto Jr.’s medical training during his early teenage years.
August 1765
- Bodo Otto Jr.’s mother, Catharina Dorothea Dahncken, died and was buried at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Cohansey District, after which the family appears to have returned to Philadelphia, except for Maria Elizabeth Otto, who was likely residing in New Jersey.
1766
- By this year, Bodo Otto Jr. was training at the Medical College and attending clinics at the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, part of the first colonial medical school established in 1765 by Dr. John Morgan and Dr. William Shippen.
September 12, 1766
- Dr. Otto Sr. remarried Maria Margaretta Paris at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, an event that reshaped the household in which Bodo Otto Jr. was continuing his medical education.
1771
- Bodo Otto Jr. received a Bachelor of Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania, marking his formal entry into the medical profession.
August 1772
- Dr. Otto Sr. purchased a 100-acre farm in what is now Mickleton, New Jersey, establishing a permanent family property in the region where Bodo Otto Jr. would soon begin his independent medical practice.
1772
- Following his marriage to Catherine Schweighauser, Bodo Otto Jr. returned to Mickleton, New Jersey, to begin practicing medicine, transitioning from student to working physician.
By 1773
- By this year, Bodo Otto Jr. and his brother Frederick Christopher Otto were both married, well established as doctors, and living in New Jersey, reflecting the success of their training under their father.
July 24, 1775
- Bodo Otto Jr. received an appointment as surgeon of Colonel Reed’s Battalion, formally entering military medical service as tensions escalated into the Revolutionary War.
1776–1778
- During this period, Bodo Otto Jr. and his wife experienced the loss of their son, Bodo Otto III, who died on September 25, 1778, in New Jersey, at a young age.
1777
- Bodo Otto Jr. served under his father alongside his brothers at the Trenton military hospital, participating in the treatment of Continental and enemy soldiers during the war.
Winter of 1777–1778
- Bodo Otto Jr. spent the winter serving at Valley Forge and Yellow Springs alongside his father, Dr. Otto Sr., and his brothers, working within the Continental hospital system under General George Washington.
March 1778
- While Bodo Otto Jr. was away on service, his house was burned by British sympathizers during the Battle of Saunders Run, forcing a permanent change in his family’s living situation, as he never returned to the destroyed home.
1778–1781
- Bodo Otto Jr. continued serving as a military physician until 1781, assisting in Continental hospitals during some of the most difficult years of the war.
After March 1778
- Following the destruction of his home, Bodo Otto Jr. and his family relocated to Swedesboro, New Jersey, establishing a new residence after the loss of their Mickleton house.
January 20, 1782
- Bodo Otto Jr. died at the age of thirty-three from consumption at the Death of the Fox Inn in Clarksboro, New Jersey, and was buried at Trinity Church in Swedesboro.
After January 1782
- Following his death, Bodo Otto Jr.’s property, including his home in Mickleton, New Jersey, was divided among his surviving children, closing the final chapter of his short but active life.
Further research ongoing!
See our reconstruction of Dr. Otto’s family tree on Ancestry.com here!