Marcus Otterbourg

Marcus Otterbourg (March 11, 1827 – December 7, 1893) was a German-born Jewish-American journalist, diplomat, lawyer, and judge. He was the first Jewish-American Minister to a foreign country.

Life Otterbourg was born on March 11, 1827, in Landau, Bavaria. He moved to Paris, France, when he was thirteen and lived with his brother, the medical doctor Solomon Otterbourg. His parents were Jonas and Fanny Otterbourg.

Otterbourg received his education in Paris. He worked as a teacher in England for some time. He then moved to Mannheim, Baden, where he worked as a teacher of French and English. Marked a Revolutionist, he immigrated to America in 1852. He then moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he initially conducted a vinegar distillery. He then became a reporter of the Wisconsin Legislature and developed an interest in politics.

During that time, Otterbourg befriended fellow German immigrant Carl Schurz, and together they became active in the new Republican Party and met a number of prominent western figures, including Abraham Lincoln. Following Lincoln's election as President, Otterbourg went to Washington, D.C., as a news correspondent. In August 1861, he was appointed Consul of Mexico City, Mexico. He served in that position throughout the American Civil War and the Second French intervention in Mexico. When the American Minister to Mexico Thomas Corwin returned to America in 1864, Otterbourg was left in charge of the Legation until a new minister could come to Mexico. In April 1865, he returned to America and resigned from his position. The resignation was not accepted and he went back to Mexico. He again attempted to resign in the summer of 1866 as his wife and children were back in America and couldn't afford to live on his consular salary. In October 1866, he heard critical information on the desperate state of the French in Mexico and left Mexico without leave to deliver the news to Secretary of State William H. Seward in person.

In June 1867, following the Siege of Mexico City, Otterbourg was appointed the United States Minister to Mexico. Edward L. Plumb, the Secretary of Legation and acting chargé d'affaires, wrote a letter to Seward opposing the nomination based on the false accusation Ottenbourg was in the pay of the French. He helped establish relations with the new Mexican Republic, and when General Porfirio Díaz gave a banquet in honor of the new Mexican President Benito Juárez he was the only foreign agent invited. By then worn out from his many years in Mexico, he left Mexico and his position as Minister in September 1867. He had only served as Minister for a few months and was never confirmed Minister by the Senate.

Following his return to the United States, Otterbourg moved to New York City, New York, and became active in local politics. He was admitted to the bar in 1871, Matilda, Marx, and Carl.

Otterbourg died in his home from pneumonia on December 7, 1893.