Biography of Capt. John F. Otto, pages 395/396/397. History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. Among the representative citizens and honored ex-soldiers of DeKalb county, Indiana, is the subject of this review, who, after a quarter of a century of untiring effort in business pursuits, is now retired and living quietly in his home in Auburn. To such men as Captain Otto we turn with particular satisfaction as offering in their life stories justification for works of this character, owing to the life of honest and sobriety he has led and his energetic nature and patriotic spirit. Captain John F. Otto was born in Erfurt, Prussia, on December 10, 1826, and at the age of fourteen yeas was apprenticed by his parents to learn the trade of a glove maker, serving as such until he was eighteen years old. He then enlisted in the Prussian artillery service and assisted in crushing the rebellion in the South German states, participating in two battles and in the siege of the fortified city of Rastadt in 1848 and 1849. In 1851 Captain Otto was discharged from military service as a non-commissioned office, and immediately emigrated to the United States, landing in New York City in May of that year. He soon found employment as a farm hand near Albany, New York, but was defrauded of his wages, and the following winter was one of privation and suffering, for, being a stranger in a strange land, without money or friends, he knew not which way to turn, In the summer of 1851 his parents came to this country and settled at Buffalo, New York, but he did not find them until the spring of the following year. He remained with them until the fall of 1853 when they all moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and he obtained employment in the shops of the Pittsburg & Fort Wayne railroad. He was thus employed at the outbreak of the Civil war and in October, 1861, loyal to his adopted country, he enlisted in the Eleventh Indiana Battery, being mustered into the service on December 17th of that year and serving with courage and valor until January 7, 1865, when he was honorably discharged. At the organization of the battery he was commissioned junior first lieutenant, and on August 12, 1863, at Bridgeport, Tennessee, he was promoted to first lieutenant because of valiant service on the field of battle. On November 17, 1863, he was placed in command of the Twentieth Ohio Battery, but was relieved by a general order from headquarters to return to Indiana on recruiting service. In the spring of 1864 he rejoined his battery, with which he served until the end of the war. He took part in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Nashville, Murfreesboro, Manchester, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Mission Ridge, Buzzard Roost, Dalton, Resaca, Kingston, New Hope Church, Burnt Hickory, Kenesaw Mountain (where he was wounded), Chattahoochee River and Atlanta. After his return from the army Captain Otto located in Auburn, and in company with Ernest Myers he engaged in the boot and shoe business. In this enterprise he was successful and in 1867 he bought his partner’s interest and continued alone. Three years later he added a stock of groceries and continued his business with gratifying results until 1890, when, having amassed sufficient in a material way to insure his future years against want or embarrassment, he retired from active business and is now living quietly in his pleasant home in Auburn. On January 26, 1865, Captain Otto married Mariah C. Reehling, of Fort Wayne, and to them have been born six children, namely: Kate is the wife of Isaac Grogg, of Auburn, who is mentioned at length elsewhere in this work; Francis and her brother Alpha Blaine, are at Berkeley, California, where the latter is a successful pharmacist; Lucy is the wife of Herbert I. Scott, of Indianapolis; Clara is the wife of John S. Samuels, of Los Angeles, California, and Lizzie is living with her parents in Auburn. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@ctlnet.com