George Martin Ottinger (8 February 1833, Springfield Township – 28 October 1917,

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

) was an American public official, artist, educator, actor and photographer, who spent most of his career in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Biography

He was born in

Springfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Springfield Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 20,814 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Wyndmoor, Erdenheim, Flourtown, and Oreland. The communities of Lafayette Hill, ...

and then raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He was raised as a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

. At age 17 (in 1850), he joined the crew of a whaling ship. By age 20 he had circumnavigated the globe and done gold digging in California. He then studied art under Robert Weir for a time, before going to the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...

. For the next two years, he worked as a painter of miniatures in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

. He then moved to Kentucky where he worked as a photograph tinter as well as a fruit merchant. Ottinger-Aztecs

In 1857, he returned to Pennsylvania to continue to study art. The following year, he joined

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) at the urging of his mother. In 1859 he went to

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

where he worked as an artist.''Pioneer Photpgraphers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary''
/ref> He came to

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...

as part of the

Milo Andrus Milo Andrus (March 6, 1814 – June 19, 1893) was an early leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Biography Andrus was born in Wilmington, New York, to Ruluf Andress and Azuba Smith. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat ...

Pioneer Company in 1861 and formed a partnership with the photographer

Charles Roscoe Savage Charles Roscoe Savage (August 16, 1832 – February 4, 1909) was a British-born landscape and portrait photographer most notable for his images of the American West. Savage converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his yout ...

. There was so little demand for their work in

that for part of 1861 they traveled through

Idaho Territory The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho. History 1860s The territory w ...

, doing jobs related to photography. He also did scenery painting for the Salt Lake Theatre as well as acting. In 1863, he became principal of the Deseret Academy of Arts, which was another joint venture with Savage. Also in 1861, he married Mary Jane McAllister Cullin. They had only one child before she died. In 1864, he married Phoebe Neslen. Three years later, he began painting a series on the

Spanish conquest of the Americas Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions of ...

, beginning with "The Last of the Aztecs". In 1879, he went to Europe with Savage as an art missionary, to improve his artistic skills. On his return, he did murals in the

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gover ...

and

Manti Temple Manti or Manty may refer to: Places * Manti, Iowa, a defunct Mormon settlement * Manti, Utah, a city, named for the city of Manti in the Book of Mormon * Manti National Forest, formerly Manti Forest Reserve, in Colorado and Utah * Manti (crater), ...

s. From 1876 to 1890, he was head of the Salt Lake Fire Department, overseeing its transformation from a volunteer to a paid organization in 1883. He also taught art at the

University of Deseret The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, beginning in 1881 and continuing until 1892. He was a key influence on many later Utah artists. For many years he was part of the

Nauvoo Legion The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Saint ...

. In 1894, he was appointed Adjutant General of Utah, and in this position oversaw the organization of the

Utah National Guard The Utah National Guard consists of the: * Utah Army National Guard **19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) **65th Field Artillery Brigade **85th WMD CST **97th Troop Command **115th Engineer Group (CBT) **204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade **211th ...

References

External links

George M. Ottinger Photo Collection
Utah Department of Heritage and Arts {{DEFAULTSORT:Ottinger, George M. 1833 births 1917 deaths Converts to Mormonism from Quakerism Latter Day Saint artists Mormon pioneers Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Artists from New York City University of Utah faculty Artists from Utah Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Latter Day Saints from Pennsylvania Latter Day Saints from Kentucky Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from Virginia Utah National Guard personnel

Biography

References

Further reading

External links