Johann Henrich (sometimes Heinrich) Otto (1733 - c. 1800) was an American

fraktur Fraktur () is a calligraphic hand of the Latin alphabet and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. The blackletter lines are broken up; that is, their forms contain many angles when compared to the curves of the Antiqu ...

artist. Otto came to the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

as a young man, arriving aboard the ship ''Edinburgh'' on October 2, 1753, his age given as 20 years. He was possibly a native of

Schwarzerden Schwarzerden is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach Districts of Germany, district in Rhinelan ...

, at that time in the parish of

Pfeffelbach Pfeffelbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kusel-Altenglan, who ...

in the

Western Palatinate Western Palatinate or West Palatinate (german: Westpfalz) is a sub-region in the west of the Palatinate, a German cultural and historic region in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It includes the western part of the Palatine Forest, the central ...

, for one Joh. Henrich Otto was born there on February 5, 1733. He married Anna Catharine Dauterich; their children were born in Lancaster and Montgomery Counties in

Pennsylvania 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, ...

. Beginning in 1755 he advertised himself as a weaver. From 1777 until 1780 he saw military service in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He appears to have worked as a schoolmaster for numerous Reformed Protestant churches; from around 1769 until 1779 he was associated with an institution in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, and later he lived in Mahanoy Township, then in Northumberland County, where he likely taught at St. Peter's Lutheran and Reformed Church. Otto began producing fraktur in the 1760s; he was among the first artists to create birth certificates using the style. His earliest pieces are completely hand-drawn, very colorful and detailed. By 1784 he was having baptismal certificates printed at the press of the

Ephrata Cloister The Ephrata Cloister or Ephrata Community was a Intentional community, religious community, established in 1732 by Conrad Beissel, Johann Conrad Beissel at Ephrata, Pennsylvania, Ephrata, in what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Lancaster ...

; the woodblocks used to decorate the pieces may have been designed by him as well. Some of them contain longer certificates which appear to justify

infant baptism Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that ...

, a practice generally disdained by

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

s in the area. Otto also created broadsides featuring

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

during his career, as well as spiritual mazes, bookplates, and presentation pieces. The birds that he drew were later copied by other artists, who also borrowed the style of his text. His four sons, Jacob, William,

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

, and Conrad became fraktur artists, as did Conrad's son Peter. Johann Otto died in Mahanoy Township. Five works either known to be by Otto or ascribed to him are in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. Five more are owned by the

Winterthur Museum Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Pronounced “winter-tour," Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana (culture), Americana in the United States. The museum and es ...

, while four are in the collection of the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

. Six are held by the Phillips Museum of Art at

Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Fran ...

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Johann Henrich 1733 births 1800 deaths American male painters 18th-century American painters 18th-century American male artists 18th-century American educators Fraktur artists Painters from Pennsylvania Schoolteachers from Pennsylvania German emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies People from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution