Rosanna Osterman
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Rosanna Dyer Osterman (February 26, 1809 – February 2, 1866) was a Jewish Texan, Texas pioneer, American Civil War nurse, and philanthropist.
She was born and educated in Germany, but immigrated with her family to the United States. Her brother was Leon Dyer, who served in the Texas Revolution.
On February 23, 1825, in Baltimore, Maryland, she married Joseph Osterman, a silversmith and merchant that was a native of Amsterdam. After suffering financial reverses, Osterman moved to Galveston, Texas in 1838. Rosanna Osterman's abilities as a nurse were well known in Galveston. During the 1853 yellow fever epidemic, she erected a temporary hospital on the family premises in order to nurse the sick and dying.
Her reputation as a nurse increased during the Civil War years. Though most residents had fled the city by 1862, Mrs. Osterman, by then a childless widow, chose to stay in Galveston and open her home as a hospital, first to Union, then to Confederate soldiers. She won the respect and admiration of the wounded in the Eighth Texas Infantry Regiment, which published a letter of thanks to her in the Galveston News.[1]
Rosanna Osterman died in Galveston and is buried there.
