Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 561 - 563 

THEODORE OTT. This gentleman occupies a position among the real-estate men of Wichita, to which he came in 1887, and has his headquarters at No. 1,116 East Central avenue. He is the hero of a career of more than ordinary interest, and as a soldier of the Union army during the late war, can tell a tale more thrilling than any fiction conceived by the brain of a novelist. Of his war record especially he has reason to feel that few men have distanced him in experience or endurance.

            Our subject is of German ancestry, and was born in Sheboygan County, Wis., to which his parents removed at an early date. They were Phillip and Louisa Ott, and went there soon after landing upon American soil. They were natives of Prussia, the former born in 1860, the mother Sept. 8, 1887, and are now deceased. Their family consisted of nine children, only three of whom are now living. Theo continued at the homestead in Sheboygan County until a youth of seventeen, and was then one of the first to respond to the call for troops to put down the Rebellion. He enlisted as a private in Company H, 1st Wisconsin Infantry, was promoted to Sergeant, and first saw the smoke of battle at Perryville, Ky., where the regiment lost about half its men. He also participated in the engagements at Nashville, Tenn., and at Shiloh and Murfreesboro, at each of which places the 1st Wisconsin suffered great losses. At the battle of Chickamauga, young Ott, together with a large portion of his regiment, was captured after being severely wounded in the knee.

            Our subject was now first taken to a Confederate hospital, and later to Libby Prison at Richmond, Va., where he was confined three months. The prison was over-crowded, and our hero suffered greatly from the want of food, which was very scanty in proportion, and of the worst possible quality. He made several attempts to escape, but each time was captured and confined with more rigor than before. He was finally removed to Danvile, Va., where he was imprisoned, and confined for one month, then managed to escape. Blood hounds were set upon his track, and he was traced to his refuge in a tree, and once more captured at the point of a rifle.

            Sergt. Ott was now sent to the dreaded stockade at Andersonville, where he spent about five months. This prison was the worst he had yet found, and here he suffered all that the imagination can conceive. The drinking water was of the most horrible description, the food was foul, and the sights and scenes around surpass the pen of the historian to depict. Young Ott, always considering the plan and means of escape, succeeded once more in running the gauntlet of the guards, but after getting two miles away, was again captured.

            Our subject was now taken to Charleston, S. C., and next to Savannah, where 1,000 of his comrades captured a steamer, and ran down the river until they overtook the blockade vessels, and were saved. Sergt. Ott and others were sent to St. Louis, Mo., from there to Milwaukee, Wis. and at the latter place received his honorable discharge.

            Upon returning to civil life, Mr. Ott turned his attention to farming, and later, May 5, 1868, was united in marriage with Miss Minnie Yanko, of Sheboygan, the daughter of John and Amelia Yanko. The young people commenced housekeeping together in Sheboygan County, Wis., on a farm, and continued residents of the Badger State until 1872. Mr. Ott then came to this county and purchased a farm in Illinois Township, embracing land now occupied by the Star school-house. He carried on farming here until the spring of 1887. On the 20th of May of that year, he came to Wichita and purchased the property where lie now resides. With admirable forethought he invested as much as possible in real estate, and is now the owner of thirty-two valuable city lots, is commanding a handsome income, and has a snug bank account for the comfort of his later years.

            The family of our subject and his estimable wife includes six children, namely : Willie, Lizzie, Theodore, Flora, Clara and Elsie. The family residence is situated on Central avenue, No. 1,116. Mr. Ott, religiously, believes in the doctrines of the Methodist Church, and politically is a decided Republican. Mrs. Ott is a member of the Evangelist Church.

            John and Amelia Yanko, the parents of Mrs. Ott, were natives of Germany, and are now residents of Wilson Township, Sheboygan Co., Wis. Mrs. Ott was born May 12, 1851, in Germany, and continued with her parents until her marriage. Her brother William was one of the first settlers of Sedgwick County, and operated the first sawmill within its limits. During those early days he was the chum and companion of William Greiffenstein, who was then known throughout this section of country as "Dutch Bill," and later wrote his name with the prefix of Honorable. These two during those pioneer days lived together in a little log cabin near the Arkansas River, at Wichita, where Mr. G. kept a trading-post for the Indians. Mr. Greiffenstein married, and when this event occurred Mr. Yanko was obliged to seek another domicile, as the little cabin would not accommodate three persons. Mr. Yanko afterward died from the effects of wounds received from the Indians while on his way to Wichita, from a buffalo hunt around Medicine Lodge. While attempting to escape in the night he was obliged to secrete himself in a pond of water, which froze over during his immersion, and within which he was so chilled that he never recovered.

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