History of My Own Times; or, the Life and Adventures of William Otter, Sen., Comprising a Series of Events, and Musical Incidents Altogether OriginalBig Bill Otter was one member of the early American working class not preoccupied with republican principles or the heritage of the Revolution. Big Bill Otterapprentice, journeyman, master plastererwas a thug. Otter's autobiography, first published in 1835, provides a rare and fascinating counterpoint to romantic notions of virtuous, respectable craftsmen in the early republic. His Life and Adventures offer an inside account of the brawling racism