Osterhout Family Papers

The Osterhout Family Papers detail the lives of John Patterson Osterhout and his family in Texas and in Central America during the latter half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. This collection primarily consists of the correspondence, professional records and personal effects of the Osterhout family.

The first series follows the personal life and professional career of John Osterhout from his schooldays and teaching career in Pennsylvania to his death in Belton, Texas in 1903. With respect to his personal correspondence, the collection holds many of the letters that John sent as well as those that he received; thus, it is increasingly easy to explore the day to day affairs and concerns of the man. Outside of the social value of these papers, John Osterhout's records hold a great deal of information on a variety of subjects such as the American Civil War, legal issues, state and national politics, Indian raids, slavery and the Texas Revolution.

The second series contains Paul Osterhout's personal and professional records. They chronicle his life from his academic career at Baylor College and the Jefferson Medical College in Pennsylvania, through his stay in Central America and his return to Texas. Paul's letters from school provide a good look at life in a boarding school and an out-of-town university. The records, especially the correspondence, from Nicaragua, Colombia and Panama detail a number of topics from running a plantation, to being an American in a foreign country, to combating yellow fever, to lengthy descriptions of the political changes and turmoil that Nicaragua and Colombia endured in the later 1800's and early 1900's.

Since the records of John and Paul Osterhout make up the bulk of the papers, they have been placed in their own series. The third series is dedicated to the other members of the Osterhout family and general family materials. The letters of Gertrude and Ora Osterhout, as well as Gertrude's journal, provide information on the daily affairs of the all female boarding school, Baylor Female College. The letters of Junia (Roberts) Osterhout generally are either to or from her siblings in other states. Jeremiah's correspondence is solely from his stay with his brother Paul in Nicaragua and sheds some more light on the political affairs of the country in 1894. The Wade family papers, which were added to the Osterhout family papers when Ora married into the Wade family, are dated from the 1860's and give more evidence on the American Civil War.

The Osterhout's were active Baptists and with their collection came a number of printed materials concerning the Baptist religion in Texas in the later half of the nineteenth century. Also included in this series are letters of standing for various individuals that moved to new Baptist communities. These letters give testimony to the good standing of the persons within their old church community.

The last series is made up of a number of architectural plans for houses that were designed by P. Herbert. It is assumed that they may be some of the homes that the Osterhouts resided in; however, as there is no information about these plans, it is difficult to be sure for whom these homes were designed. A few of the houses have their complete plans including the front and side exteriors, the various floors, the roofs and the foundation plans. Other houses are only partially complete.