Norfolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Barten, Otto June 26, 1897 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Suzy Ward Fleming wardflemin@aol.com March 8, 2015, 7:15 pm The Norfolk Virginian, June 27, 1897 Death of Dr. Barten The Distinguished Devine Found Rest from His Labors Yesterday Afternoon For Nearly A Third of a Century Rector of Christ Episcopal Church Ministered to Jefferson Davis at Fort Monroe-His Great Versatility and Talents-A Loss to the Church and the Community Rev. Otto Sievers Barten, rector of Christ Protestant Episcopal Church, this city, died at the rectory on Bute Street yesterday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock. He had been quite ill for several days and at no time since he was stricken down, has hope of his recovery been entertained, for his failing health had been noted for almost a year past. His death will come as a personal bereavement to all of his parishioners, and the church throughout the State and nation will mourn the loss of one who labored constantly for the advancement of Christianity and the highest good of his fellowman. The funeral will take place tomorrow at 11 o’clock, Bishop Randolph, assisted by all of the Episcopal clergymen in the city officiating. His remains will be laid to rest in Elmwood. Mr. and Mrs. Miller and many ladies of the congregation were with him when he died. Bishop Randolph had left him only five minutes before the end came. He had been unconscious however, since Friday morning. Otto E. Barten was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1831, and was therefore 66 years of age. He received his early training in the private schools of that city and later became a student of the academical institution Dr. Gesenius, a brother of the celebrated Hebrew profession of that name, from which he graduated with honors. Under the pressure of political difficulties in Germany, during the years 1848 and 1849, he came to the United States. After his arrival he remained in New York City for several weeks. Under the advice of many influential friends, he became a candidate for Holy Orders and repairing to Newport R.I., he pursued his studies in English Literature. He returned to New York in 1853 and entered the general theological seminary in that city. He was ordained to the deaconate in June 1856, the ordination taking place in the Church of Incarnation, Right Rev. Thomas M. Clark, D.D., Bishop of Rhode Island administering the rite. He spent his deaconate in a missionary station at Copeake Iron Works, N.Y. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1857 by Bishop Potter, of New York. He then took charge of St. John’s Northampton, Mass., where he remained until 1859, when failing health brought him to Virginia, where he had remained since. He was rector of St. James’ Church, Warrenton, from 1859 until 1865. During the war he ministered by carrying the comforting word to all in need and was especially busy among the wounded soldiers and suffering families. During the dark days of the war, he was pastor of the mother of Mrs. Randolph, mother of the Bishop, and was able to be of great services to her family. In December 1865, he became rector of Christ Church, Norfolk. During that year he ministered to President Jefferson Davis, while the great Confederate statesman was a prisoner at Fortress Monroe. He received the degree of doctor of divinity in 1869, from the University of William and Mary, and he was an active member of the Board of Visitors of that institution up to the time of his death. Dr. Barten’s ministry in Christ Church has been most faithful and successful. He was a man of great administrative ability, a scholarly and instructive preacher and zealous in all good works. The impress of his personality and his work has extended beyond the bounds of his own congregation. He bore an active part in all things pertaining to the good of the community with which he was identified. He was an exceptionally well read man, and personally was a most delightful companion, genial and pleasant at all times. He had was a skillful musician and had one of the most splendid private libraries in the State. He always bore a prominent part in the work of the diocese, being the president of the Board of Trustees of investment funds and of the Board of Managers, of the Widows’ and Orphans’ fund. At the recent council held in Portsmouth, he preached the opening sermon, leaving a sick bed to do so, but delivering a discourse on the doctrine of Everlasting Life, which impressed the entire congregation and to which the Bishop touchingly alluded in his farewell address to the council. This was the last ministerial act of a life devoted to the cause of Christianity and it was a fitting climax to the life he has led. He was married in 1857 to Miss Emma, the accomplished daughter of Henry A. Brewster, of Rochester, N.Y., with whom he lived happy for nearly 30 years. The father of Dr. Barten, Dr. John A. Sievers, was born in Hamburg, Germany and educated there. He was a merchant all of his life, and was appointed commissioner by the French during their occupancy of Hamburg during the War of 1813. He was married to Amelia Rosenhoff, and to them were born seven children, two of whom now survive; Adolph Sievers, of Hamburg, and Emma the wife of Rev. Dr. Otto Wyman, of Hamburg. Bishop Randolph in speaking of his death, said: “The church and the community have sustained a great loss. He was a great main in his goodness.” Rev. Beverly D. Tucker, rector of St. Paul’s said: “The Doctor’s intellectual attainments are too well known to need comment. He was deeply pious and a man of a very generous disposition, as hundreds of poor of this city can testify. They will never cease to remember him with gratitude”. Rev. Arthur S. Lloyd, rector of St. Luke’s said: “A man who lives in a city thirty-two years has a great opportunity to wield a tremendous influence for good, and Dr. Barten has not neglected his chance and he cannot ever be forgotten here. His death is a great loss to the church.” ************ The Norfolk Virginian, June 27, 1897 Barten-On Saturday, June 26th, 1897 at 2:30 p.m., at Christ Church Rectory, the Rev. Dr. Otto Sievers-Barton. Funeral services at Christ Church on Monday, June 28th, at 11 o’clock a.m. Additional Comments: Elmwood File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/norfolkcity/obits/b/barten7485gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/vafiles/ File size: 6.7 Kb