Page:Biographical Memoir of John C Otto MD.djvu/6

, New Jersey; was the son of Dr. Bodo Otto, an eminent physician, and distinguished as a public character in the stirring periods of the American Revolution. Warmly attached to the republican cause, and an active promoter of the Independence of America, he was called, by the unanimous vote of the county in which he lived, to the Senate of New Jersey; and served, during the war, as an officer in the revolutionary army.

It is related of him, that, during an absence from home on military duty, his house was fired by his political antagonists, the Tories, and his wife and several young children—amongst whom was the subject of this Memoir—were driven from their homes in the midst of an inclement season, while all the products of his farm were consumed. The incendiaries were apprehended and convicted; and, notwithstanding the calamity into which their acts had plunged him, Dr. Otto interfered in their behalf, and actually took a long journey on horseback to obtain their pardon. His mission was successful; but being overtaken by a violent storm, he contracted a severe catarrh, which was soon followed by pulmonary consumption; and he died at the early age of thirty years—leaving three children, of whom Dr. John C. Otto was the youngest.

This anecdote is recorded, as evincing an instance of rare magnanimity, and as an evidence of the honorable parentage of our deceased fellow-member.

Dr. Otto's great-grandfather and grandfather were also physicians; the latter emigrated to this country, from Germany, in 1752, being then forty-three years of age. He settled in Philadelphia; and, having received a European education, then a somewhat rare circumstance, he was much esteemed for his literary and medical knowledge. He obtained a considerable practice, especially amongst the German population, being rather conspicuous for his surgical knowledge. He attended the American