Sketch of Rudolph Otteni

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Rudolph Otteni
1844 - 1903

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FAMILY BACKGROUND

Rudolph Otteni is the son of Franz Josef "Joseph" Otteni and Maria Eva Weber. He was born in Germany in Mar 1844. Rudolph's mother died when he was 12 years old.

Rudolph is 1 of 11 children of Franz Josef and Eva Otteni. All but Rudolph remained in Germany. His 4 known siblings are:
- Karl Otteni ( ? - 1853)
- Lina Otteni Baur Glour ( ? - ? )
- Luise Otteni Reiff (1838-1880)
- Emma Otteni Stefan (1839-1893)
Rudolph's ancestors on his Otteni side can be traced back to his Great Great Great Grandfather, Hans Georg Otteni, who was born in 1655.

Parents --

Franz Josef "Joseph" Otteni and Maria Eva Weber

Grand Mother --

Rosalie Otteni and Unknown Father

Great Grand Parents --

Ferdinandus "Ferdinand" Otteni and Magdalena Kling 

Great Great Grand Parents --

Johann Martin Otteni and Maria Eva Schmidt

Great Great Great Grand Parents --

Hans Georg Otteni and Ursula Salinger 

 

The name, Rudolp Ottin, appears in the "Passenger and Immigration Lists: Germans to America 1850-1874 Archive". The 1900 U.S. Census lists his immigration date at 1861. Per the Naturalization Records of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rudolf became a natuarlized U.S. citizen on 13 Sep 1880.

Rudolph enlisted in the Grand Army of the Republic to fight in the U.S. Civil War soon after his arrival in the United States. The Civil War Pension Index lists Emma Otteni as the widow of Rudolph Otteni, which she filed in the State of Delaware. From Session 1 of the Sixtieth Congress in 1908, the following entry was made:



Per the 1890 Veterans Schedules, Rudolph enlisted in the Union Army on 19 Oct 1864 and discharged on 28 Aug 1865 as a Private in the New Jersey Calvary Company H.

Rudolph's father, Joseph, died in 1866. Joseph's widow (2nd wife not Rudolph's mother) planned to continue running the family printing business. But Joseph's heirs did not accept this. After long negotiations, during which Rudolph came back to Germany from America, the heirs finally bought the business and started "A. Reiff & Cie." in 1867.  The owners were Alexander Reiff (husband of Rudoph's sister Luise Otteni), Leopold Stefan (husband of Rudolph's sister Emma Otteni) and Rudolph Otteni. After a year and a half, Rudolph left the business and started his own newspaper and printing business on January 1, 1869. The name of the newspaper was "Kinzigbote". After running it for some time, Rudolph returned to America in 1880.

Rudolph married Emma T. Yanz in 1876.  She was born Mar 1853 in Germany.

Per the 1880 U.S. Census, Rudolph and Emma Otteni resided in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 728 44th Street. The census taker wrote the name as "Tanney". It is presumed that the surname was pronounced as "O-tan-nee" but the census taker did not record the "O". Listed are:

NAME

AGE LISTED

 BIRTH PLACE
Rudolph Tanney [sic]

37

 Baden
Emma Tanney [sic]

28

 Baden
Ernest R. Tanney [sic]

1

 Pennsylvania

The Philadelphia City Directory of 1890 lists Rudolph Otteni as running a printing business at 4500 Brown, Philadelphia, PA and Emma Otteni, his wife, was running a dry goods business at the same address.

Per the 1900 U.S. Census, Rudolph and Emma Otteni resided in Wilmington Ward 10, New Castle County, Delaware at 308 Jackson Street. Listed are:

NAME

AGE LISTED

 BIRTH DATE BIRTH PLACE
Rudolph Otteni

56

 Mar 1844 Germany
Emma Otteni

47

 Mar 1853 Germany
Ernest J. Otteni

21

 Mar 1879 Pennsylvania
Rudolph Otteni 19 Mar 1881 Pennsylvania
Charles H Otteni 13 Jan 1887 Pennsylvania
Lewis Otteni 8 Jul 1891 Delaware
Percival Otteni 3 Nov 1896 Delaware

In 1900, Rudolph and Emma Otteni are listed as married 24 years with 5 children born and 5 children living.

Rudolph and Emma are known to have 5 children:

NAME

BIRTH - DEATH DATES

Ernest Joseph Otteni

 13 Mar 1879 11 Apr 1942

Rudolph Paul Otteni

 16 Mar 1881 1 May 1963

Harry Francis Otteni

 3 Jan 1887 5 May 1955

Louis John Otteni

 31 Jul 1891 12 Dec 1972

Percival F. "Percy" Otteni

 11 Oct 1896 15 May 1970

In 1897, Rudolph received a letter from his step-father.



In 1901, Rudolph had his coat and hat stolen while getting a shave in a local barber shop.



Rudolph died in 1903. He is buried at Cathedral Cemetery, 2400 Lancaster Avenue Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware.

Emma Otteni died 21 Jul 1914. She is buried at Cathedral Cemetery, 2400 Lancaster Avenue Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware.

 

Rudolph's son, Ernest Otteni, was also in the newspaper business. His obituary appeared in the Journal-Every Evening, 13 Apr 1942, Wilmington, DE.

 

Another son, Louis Otteni, served in World War I.  According to a newspaper article in the Delmarvia Star, Wilmington, DE, Sunday, 30 Jul 1919, he was cited for his actions during the war.  

SERGT. L. J. OTTENI GIVEN CITATION

In an interesting history of the 1st United States Engineers 1st United States Division, printed at Coblenz Germany, April 15, 1919, appears in the regimental roster, officers and men serving between October 16, 1917 and November 11, 1918, the names of six Wilmingtonians who served in the famous regiment.  Of the six men, one died of wounds received in action, one gassed in action, and one cited for distinguished conduct.

Sergeant Otteni on a recent visit for a month at the home of his brother, Ernest J. Otteni, having languishing in a hospital in France for two months, suffered with nervous breakdown, spoke very little about the exploits of the First Engineers.  He recoiled from any discussion on the subject.  The first intimation that he had been cited became known here yesterday.

Sergeant Otteni is now in charge of the Army recruiting Station at Worcester, Mass.  He does not know of this publication.

The citation in extract, follows:

HEADQUARTERS FIRST DIVISION AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES

Mostahear, Germany  30 December 1918

General Orders 101  

The Division Commander cites the following officers, nurses and men for distinguished conduct in the operations between the Argonine and Meuse (ten were cited).

"Sergeant 1cl Louis J. Otteni, Co. A, 1st Engineers 'displayed .... and distinguished bravery in securing information confirming the location of the enemy machine gun nests, and by tactfully leading his platoon caused the destruction of enemy strong points and established the advanced outposts."

 

FAMILY NAME

Over the years, there have been many different spellings of the Otteni family name. The original spelling, found on German records and signatures on early land transactions in the United States, is OTTENI. Other spellings used today in the U.S. are: OATNEY, OTNEY, and OTTNEY. All branches trace back to Urloffen, Germany to Hans Georg Otteni.The descendants of Rudolph Otteni spell their name OTTENI.

  FAMILY INFORMATION

Click on the following link to view information on the descendants of Rudolf Otteni to the present.  (Report with documentation also available)

Descendants of Rudolph Otteni (1844-1903) - a privatized (dates & places of living people omitted) 5 Generation Descendant Book (PDF), starting with Rudolph Otteni - 7 pages plus index.

Rudolph Otteni Find A Grave - Burial information with links to descendants

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Last modified: August 31, 2026