Bodo Otto

{{short description|American physician}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Doctor | name = Bodo Otto | image = Bodootto.png | birth_date = 1709 | birth_place = Germany | death_date = June 13, 1787 | death_place = Reading, Pennsylvania, US | burial_place = Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery | burial_coordinates = 40.32710, -75.91470 | occupation = Surgeon, Physician | known_for = Surgeon for the Continental Army | spouse = Anna Elizabeth Sauchen (married 1737–1738) Catharine Doratha Doehmicher (married 1742–1765) Margaret Parris (married 1768–1801) | children = 5 }}

'''Bodo Otto''' (1711{{mdash}}1787) was a Senior Surgeon of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.<ref name= more>{{cite web| url= http://www.drbodootto.org/otto.html| title= More About Dr. Bodo Otto| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070813145817/http://www.drbodootto.org/otto.html |archivedate=2007-08-13| url-status= dead| website= drbodootto.org| publisher= The Dr. Bodo Otto Family Association| date= | access-date= 2025-07-06}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=DAR Genealogical Research Databases |url=https://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A084892 |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=services.dar.org}}</ref>

==Early life, family, and education== Bodo Otto was born in Germany in 1709.<ref name=":0" />

He was trained as a surgeon at the University of Göttingen in Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/surgeons.html |title=Who served here? Physicians, Surgeons and Mates with Washington at Valley Forge |publisher= | website= ushistory.org |accessdate=3 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20101022004602/http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/surgeons.html |archivedate=22 October 2010 }}</ref> He was a member of the College of Surgeons at Lueneberg and was in charge of all prisoners that were held at Fortress Kalenberg in Germany.

Dr. Otto was married three times:<ref name=":0" />

* Anna Elizabeth Sauchen<ref name=":0" /> ** Married in 1737 in Germany ** She died in 1738 in Germany ** They had one child *** Mary Elizabeth

* Catharine Doratha Doehmicher<ref name=":0" /> ** Married on May 21st in 1742 ** She died in 1765 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ** They had four children *** Frederick Christopher (08/22/1743 to 11/18/1795) *** Doratha Sophia (02/28/1745 to 11/16/1774) *** Bodo Jr. (09/11/1748 to 01/20/1782) *** John Augustus (07/20/1751 to 12/16/1834) * Margaret Parris<ref name=":0" /> ** Married on December 18th in 1768 ** Died in 1801 *** They had no children

He resided in the Electorate of Hanover in what is now Germany and emigrated in 1755.<ref name="more" />

Otto was one of the early settlers of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<ref name="more" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (03/02/1934 - ) |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/135814626 |title=New Jersey SP Otto, Bodo, House |series=Records of the National Park Service}}</ref>

He was one of the first trained and skilled surgeons and physicians in Reading, Pennsylvania.

==Public service== Dr. Otto publicly opposed the Stamp Act and also served on the Berks County Committee of Public Safety.<ref name= "autogenerated1oo" />

He was one of the delegates in 1776 to represent Berks County in the Provincial Conference.

He gave his services as a trained surgeon during the Revolutionary War in the Continental Army for the United States.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=War Department. Military Bounty Lands and Pension Branch. ca. 1810-1815 |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/196327723 |title=Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File B. L. Wt. 1621-450, for Bodo Otto, [Blank] |last2=War Department. Office of the Secretary. 1789-9/18/1947 |last3=Department of the Interior. Bureau of Pensions. 1849-1930 |series=Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs}}</ref>

==Medical treatment for military== During the Revolution the Second Continental Congress appointed Dr. Otto to establish a military hospital in Trenton, New Jersey for the treatment of smallpox.<ref name=":2" /> He was present during the Battle of Long Island in 1776.<ref name="autogenerated1oo">{{Cite web |url=http://www.explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=229 |title=Historical Markers |author= |date= |publisher= |website= explorepahistory.com |accessdate=3 October 2010}}</ref> He was also assigned to the Continental hospital at Valley Forge and located in the Uwchlan Meetinghouse.<ref name="arch">{{cite web| url = https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce/SelectWelcome.asp| title = National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania| work = Cultural Resources Geographic Information System| publisher= State of Pennsylvania| format = Searchable database| access-date = 2012-11-13| archive-date = 2007-07-21| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070721014609/https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce/SelectWelcome.asp| url-status = dead}} ''Note:'' This includes {{cite web| url = https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce_imagery/phmc_scans/H001591_01H.pdf| title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Uwchlan Meetinghouse| accessdate = 2012-10-30| author = David C. Stacks| date = July 1973| url-status = dead| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140322150550/https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce_imagery/phmc_scans/H001591_01H.pdf| archivedate = 2014-03-22}}</ref> Later during the Revolution, Dr. Otto was put in charge of the hospitals in Yellow Springs (in what is now Chester Springs, Pennsylvania), where he and one of his sons treated the ill soldiers from Valley Forge.<ref name= more /><ref name=":0" /> Dr. Otto and one of his sons crossed the Delaware River with General Washington and his army and surprised Hessian soldiers encamped at Trenton on the morning of 26 December 1776. He was widely respected for selflessly treating wounded and dying Hessians. There were only a smattering of casualties on the American side.

Bodo used Trinity Lutheran Church in Reading, Pennsylvania, as a hospital to treat wounded soldiers from the Battle of Brandywine.

Dr. Otto did not retire from his Army service until February 1782 at age 70.<ref name= more /><ref name=":0" />

==Personal life and demise== His three sons were also physicians for the Army, and they assisted him as Junior Surgeon and Surgeon Mates.<ref name= more />

Dr. Otto died in 1787 and was buried in Reading, Pennsylvania, at the Trinity Lutheran Church (where he was a member) Cemetery.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.drbodootto.org/sites.html|title=Historic Sites Associated With Dr. Bodo Otto| website= drbodootto.org |url-status=dead| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110726003720/http://www.drbodootto.org/sites.html| archivedate=26 July 2011| publisher= The Dr. Bodo Otto Family Association| date= | access-date= 2010-10-03}}</ref> Many of his surgical instruments as well as a portrait of him and his wife are in the collection of the Historical Society of Berks County in Reading.

A great-grandson, Judge William Tod Otto who moved from Philadelphia to settle in Indiana, served in US President Abraham Lincoln's administration as Assistant Secretary of the Interior. According to ''The New York Times'', Judge Otto was one of twelve men permitted at Lincoln's bedside when he died.<ref>{{cite news| author= | title= Title to be provided |work= The New York Times| date= 16 April 1865| page= 1| url=}}</ref><gallery> File:Dr. Bodo Otto Information.jpg|Dr. Bodo Otto Information File:Dr. Bodo Otto Information 2.jpg|Dr. Bodo Otto's DAR Records Information </gallery>

==See also== * Bodo Otto House

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== *[http://www.drbodootto.org/ DrBodoOtto.org], historical & genealogical website *[http://www.explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=229 Pennsylvania historical marker]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Bodo}} Category:1787 deaths Category:1711 births Category:People from Berks County, Pennsylvania Category:German emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Category:German Lutherans Category:Pennsylvania Dutch people Category:Lutherans from Pennsylvania Category:18th-century American medical doctors Category:Medical doctors in the American Revolution Category:People from colonial New Jersey Category:People from the Electorate of Hanover Category:Medical doctors from colonial Pennsylvania