While in St. Louis, Otto met and later married Emma Francisca Bentzen. The youngest daughter of Ulrich F. W. Bentzen and Helene (Garrels) Bentzen, Emma, one of five daughters and two sons, was born on February 25, 1858, in St. Louis. Her parents, along with two older sisters and a brother, had immigrated from Hannover, Germany, in 1837. Her father was a gardener and appeared to make a modest living for the family.
