VELASCO / TEX. // DEC / 11 [1863] cds with manuscript “Due 10” in pencil on cover to Mrs. J[unia]. M. Osterhout, Bellville, Texas with endorsement of J. P. Osterhout, Adjt 4th Inf, TST (Texas State Troops). $450.

John Patterson Osterhout (1826-1903) was born in Pennsylvania and completed his education as a lawyer while carrying out a teaching career in that state. In 1851 he moved to Bellville, Texas. At first, he continued to be a teacher but, in the years up until his death, John held a number of different positions - lawyer, collecting agent, newspaper editor and owner, officer in the Confederate Army, railroad company president, judge, postmaster, rancher and a store owner. He was prominent in the Baptist church and Masonic communities and, later in his life, he was involved in state politics. The Osterhout Family Collection is housed at Rice University.