Biography of Dr. Bodo Otto Sr.
Family Background
Dr. Bodo Otto was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1711 into a family whose social position was rooted in forestry service and noble estates. He was the grandson of Hans Claus Otto, who served as chief forester of the Otto family. The Lauterberg Ottos were of southern German origin and Saxon ethnicity. Following the Peace of Westphalia, members of the family relocated to Hanover in pursuit of forestry opportunities created by political and territorial reorganization.
Bodo Otto’s father, Christopher Otto, was born in 1667 and served as chief forester for the estate of the Counts of Oberg. Christopher was in service to Baron Bodo von Oberg, Count of Laterburg. This relationship later became significant in Bodo Otto’s life through godparentage and naming. Bodo Otto’s mother was Maria Magdalena Menechen. Her exact date of birth is unknown, and she was likely significantly older than her husband. She was probably from Kranz, near the Baltic Sea, a region that was considered part of Prussia rather than Hanover at the time. There may have been relatives of Christopher Otto living in this area, which likely explains how Christopher and Maria met while Christopher was away from his father’s parish.
Christopher Otto and Maria Magdalena Menechen married while Christopher was away from his home parish. Because of this, their marriage was not recorded in parish registers. As a result, when Bodo Otto was born in 1711, there was no birth certificate on file. When the family later returned to Hanover, Baron Bodo von Oberg served as Bodo Otto’s godfather, which explains the origin of his given name. Maria Magdalena Menechen is not listed on Bodo Otto’s christening record, indicating that she likely died during childbirth or shortly afterward, before July 20, 1711.
Christopher Otto later remarried and remained an influential figure in his son’s life. He arranged for Bodo Otto to be apprenticed to a surgeon, a process that normally required documentary proof of birth and legitimacy. Because Bodo Otto lacked a standard parish birth record, his ability to enter apprenticeship suggests that Christopher Otto’s status, connections, and intervention played a decisive role. Christopher Otto died on August 21, 1752, at the age of 85.
Bodo Otto married three times. His first wife was Elizabeth Sanchen, whom he married in Lüneburg in 1736. They had one daughter, Maria Elizabeth Otto. Elizabeth died in Lüneburg between 1737 and 1738. Otto’s second wife was Catharina Dorothea Dahncken, daughter of Johann Dahncken, whom he married in 1742. Catharina may have been of noble birth and appears to have had personal wealth, as she commissioned formal portraits of herself and her husband. Together they had several children. Catharina died in 1765. Otto’s third wife was Maria Margaretta Paris, an Englishwoman, whom he married in Philadelphia in 1766.
Throughout his life, Otto was affiliated with Lutheran congregations in Germany and Pennsylvania and later became a member of the American Philosophical Society organized by Benjamin Franklin, reflecting his standing within Philadelphia’s intellectual and medical community.
Biographical Timeline
1711
- Bodo Otto was born in Hanover, Germany. Because his parents’ marriage had not been recorded in parish registers, no formal birth certificate was filed for him.
Before July 20, 1711
- Otto’s mother, Maria Magdalena Menechen, likely died during childbirth or shortly afterward, as she does not appear on his christening record.
By May 5, 1727
- Otto was formally apprenticed to a physician in Hildesheim. Entering apprenticeship normally required documentary proof of birth and legitimacy, meaning Otto’s lack of a standard birth record had to be addressed through other means, likely by his father’s intervention and status.
By 1729
- Otto was working as a surgeon’s assistant at a pest house, or lazaretto, in Hamburg, where he would have treated infectious disease like the plague.
- By this year at the latest, Otto was also registered with the Duke of Celle’s Dragoons, indicating early service connected to military medical structures.
July 19, 1736
- Otto married his first wife, Elizabeth Sanchen, in Lüneburg, prior to completing his final professional examinations.
May 1, 1737
- Otto’s daughter, Maria Elizabeth Otto, was born, likely in Lüneburg, Germany.
Between 1737 and 1738
- Elizabeth Sanchen Otto died and was buried in Lüneburg, leaving Otto a widower with a young daughter.
June 13, 1739
- Otto presented himself for his final medical examinations in Lüneburg, completing his formal training as a physician-surgeon.
April 1742
- Otto married his second wife, Catharina Dorothea Dahncken, in Lüneburg. She was the daughter of Johann Dahncken and may have been of noble birth.
August 22, 1743
- Otto’s first son with Catharina, Frederick Christopher Otto, was born in Lüneburg, Germany.
November 6, 1744
- Otto’s daughter Dorothea-Sophia Otto was born in Lüneburg, Germany.
By November 25, 1747
- Otto was formally recognized by Dr. Henry Christian Kruger, the official physician of Lüneburg, for his skill and fidelity in medical practice.
February 28, 1748
- Dorothea-Sophia Otto died and was buried in Lüneburg, in the same cemetery as Otto’s first wife, Elizabeth.
September 14, 1748
- Otto’s son Bodo Otto Jr. was born in Lüneburg, Germany.
Between 1748 and 1750
- The Otto family relocated from Lüneburg to a new home in the Harz Mountains, in the Scharzfels district of Germany.
1750
- Otto took an oath of fidelity for his position as Chief Surgeon for the District of Scharzfels at Scharzfels Castle in the Harz Mountains.
July 30, 1751
- Otto’s youngest son with Catharina, John Augustus Otto, was born in the Scharzfels district of Germany.
1752
- Otto’s father, Christopher Otto, died on August 21 at the age of 85.
- John Augustus Otto later recorded that Christopher Otto’s death, combined with economic hardship in the Harz Mountains, inspired Otto’s decision to emigrate.
For twelve years, ending before emigration
- Otto served as Chief Surgeon at the fortress of Kalkberg, overlapping with his appointment in the Scharzfels district.
May 10, 1755
- Otto and his family emigrated from Lauterberg, Germany, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
By December 16, 1755
- After arriving in October, the Otto family had settled in Philadelphia.
Winter of 1755–1756
- A smallpox outbreak occurred in Philadelphia.
1756
- Otto moved his medical practice to Germantown in response to the smallpox outbreak.
- In Germantown, Otto worked closely with Dr. Christopher Witt, a Pietist physician and follower of Kelpius, who had lived as a hermit near Philadelphia.
1758
- A German woman who served as a servant in the Otto household died and was buried in the non-Quaker, non-Mennonite section of the Germantown graveyard.
1762
- Frederick Christopher Otto, aged 19, renewed his baptismal vows at the German Lutheran Church in Germantown.
- By this year, Frederick and Bodo Otto Jr. were studying medicine under their father in his medical office.
August 11, 1765
- Catharina Dorothea Otto died and was buried at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Cohansey District.
1766
- Otto advertised his medical services, explicitly offering treatment to those too impoverished to receive care from other physicians.
- During this period, Otto was staying in Philadelphia at the household of Leonard Melchior, who operated an apothecary shop.
By 1766
- Bodo Otto Jr. was training at the Medical College of Philadelphia and attending clinics at the Pennsylvania Hospital, the first colonial medical school, founded in 1765 by Dr. John Morgan and Dr. William Shippen Jr.
September 12, 1766
- Otto married his third wife, Maria Margaretta Paris, at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Philadelphia. Otto was 55 years old, and Maria was 47. Although Maria was described as English, both were listed as being “of this city” in the marriage record.
1768
- Maria Elizabeth Otto, Otto’s daughter from his first marriage, died in New Jersey. She had previously married George Wilhelm Marx of Philadelphia sometime after August 31, 1750.
By December 18, 1772
- Otto was serving on the Philadelphia Committee of Safety and had been appointed as a Commissioner of Berks County. Dr. Jonathan Potts was also a member of the committee.
1773
- Otto left Philadelphia for reasons unknown and moved to Reading, Pennsylvania.
- He purchased an apothecary shop from Dr. Adam Simon Kuhn Sr.
- His youngest son, John Augustus Otto, moved with Otto and Maria to Reading while continuing his medical training and attending lectures in Philadelphia.
- By this year, Frederick Otto and Bodo Otto Jr. were married, well-established physicians, and living in New Jersey.
July 4, 1776
- The Committee of Safety declared support for the Declaration of Independence.
1776–1782
- Otto served tours of duty in continental military hospitals.
- His sons Frederick, Bodo Otto Jr., and John Augustus assisted him.
- John Augustus later recorded that three years into his service he became disabled by illness contracted while serving as a camp doctor.
February 1777
- General George Washington ordered general inoculation against smallpox for all Continental Army soldiers, following earlier resistance from Congress.
July 1777
- Otto was stationed in Trenton with his sons Frederick Otto, serving as Junior Surgeon, and John Augustus Otto, serving as a surgeon’s mate.
- Otto was reportedly gifted a German sword by a Hessian mercenary.
- John Augustus Otto was gifted a book by a Hessian.
- The Ottos treated both American and Hessian soldiers, indicating medical care extended to enemy combatants.
1777
- While Otto was stationed in Trenton, John Augustus Otto served at Reading hospitals located in the courthouse, Potter’s shop, and the Friends’ Meeting House.
- Otto was later transferred from Trenton to Bethlehem.
December 11, 1777
- General Washington ordered the army to march toward Valley Forge.
Winter of 1777–1778
- At Valley Forge, Otto and his sons Frederick, Bodo Otto Jr., and John Augustus were listed among the medical personnel serving in the continental hospitals, alongside Dr. Jonathan Potts, Dr. William Shippen Jr., Dr. John Cochran, Dr. Samuel Kennedy, Dr. James Fallon, and Rev. James Sproat.
- One of Otto’s sons wrote home to his wife from Valley Forge, complaining of excessive smoke and having little to eat beyond bacon.
1777–1778
- Otto traveled to Yellow Springs to serve the sick there due to his specialization in smallpox inoculation.
- Yellow Springs already hosted several “flying hospitals,” in three barns on the plantation, described by a Hessian soldier as “rebel hospitals,” and remained in use even while a permanent hospital was under construction.
- Otto arrived with his wife and sons, who served in the hospital, while some family members traveled regularly between Yellow Springs and Valley Forge.
After June 17, 1778
After the death of Dr. Samuel Kennedy: Otto was appointed director of Washington Hall, placing him in charge of one of the most important Revolutionary War medical sites in the region.
Further research ongoing!
See our reconstruction of Dr. Otto’s family tree on Ancestry.com here!