Notes on Roe and Ostrander Families
ABEL OSTRANDER GRAVE
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Information transcribed and submitted
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Abel Ostrander was born at PLATTEHILL, Ulster County, New York,
on March 25, 1777 and married Catherine Esterly on Dec. 17, 1803.
He came by wagon train to Washington in 1852. He died on Oct. 31,
1859 in Cowlitz County, Washington. His grave is in the center of a
gravel driveway, located off of Pacific Ave. north of Kelso,
Washington. From Kelso, take Pacific Ave north for 4 miles; take a
left turn on Pleasant Hill road; go 5/10 of a mile to gravel road on
left side of road. Follow this gravel road for 2/10 of a mile and you
will see the grave in the center of the road.
NAME Date of Birth Date of Death
Ostrander, Abel March 25, 1777 Oct. 31, 1859
http://www.drizzle.com/~jtenlen/bios/ostrander.txt
Hunt, Herbert and Floyd C. Kaylor. Washington: West of the
Cascades. Vol. III. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1917.
p. 240-242.
OSTRANDER, DR. NATHANIEL: When death called Nathaniel
Ostrander, Washington lost one of its oldest and most honored
medical practitioners--one whose service had been of the
utmost value in the state along professional lines. His worth
as a man was also widely acknowledged. He was born in Ulster
county, New York, December 28, 1818, a son of Abel and
Catherine (Esterly) Ostrander, who were natives of the Empire
state and were of Holland descent. The father early became
familiar with farm work and devoted his attention to the labors
of the fields in the east until 1836, when he removed with his
family to St. Louis, Missouri, and there engaged in building and
renting houses; but the tide of emigration was steadily flowing
westward and with that current he was carried to Washington
in 1852. Arriving in the northwest, he secured a donation claim
upon the Cowlitz river and there devoted his attention to
agricultural pursuits for some years.
When Nathaniel Ostrander was an infant he was taken to the
home of his uncle, Nathaniel, with whom he remained until he
reached the age of fourteen years, enjoying the privileges of
educational training in the schools of New York city. In 1832,
however, he returned to the home of his parents, with whom he
remained for two years, after which he became a clerk in the store of
his brother John at St. Louis, Missouri, being there employed until
1836. In that year he removed to Lafayette county, Missouri, where
he again engaged in mercantile pursuits.
It was in 1838 that Dr. Ostrander was united in marriage to
Miss Eliza Jane Yantis, a native of Kentucky of Dutch descent, and
in 1845 he removed to Cass county, where he engaged in farming.
It was about that time that his attention was directed to medical
study. He began reading with Dr. D. K. Palmer as his preceptor,
pursuing his studies as he followed the plow. In 1847 he removed
to Saline county, Missouri, where he further devoted his attention to
reading medicine, and he also attended two courses of lectures in the
medical department of the St. Louis University, from which he was
graduated in 1848. Immediately afterward he began practice in
Saline county, where he remained until 1850. It was in that year
that he turned his face westward and with a wagon drawn by oxen
started across the plains for California. The journey was fraught
with hardships and privations but with no unusual incidents, and
after safely reaching the coast he devoted a year to mining and to the
practice of his profession in the camps at Rough and Ready and in
Onion Valley. In the fall of 1851, however, he returned to his
family in Missouri, making the return trip by way of the Nicaragua
route. He then converted his farm property into cash and with a
prairie outfit of three wagons, drawn by oxen, he again started for
the Pacific coast, accompanied this time by his family and his father.
On this occasion he made Washington his destination, although at
that time the territory had not been set off from Oregon. He located
on the Cowlitz river, being one of the first settlers in that valley.
There he engaged in farming and in the practice of medicine as
occasion required, remaining in that locality until 1872. From wild
and unimproved tracts of land he developed two good farms and his
work in that district has been commemorated by naming a creek and
a village in his honor. In 1872 he sold out and removed to
Tumwater, where he established a small drug store and also
continued in the practice of medicine. He successfully conducted
his store there until 1879, when he went to Olympia and remained a
valued resident of the capital city until his demise. He became
prominently identified with public affairs there, as he had been in the
district in which he had previously lived, and he was ever untiring in
his efforts to contribute to the welfare of his state and its
development along those lines that lead to the upbuilding of a great
commonwealth. He was the first probate judge of Cowlitz county,
appointed by Isaac I. Stevens, the first territorial governor of
Washington, and for twelve years he continued on the probate
bench. Several times he represented his ward as a member of the
city council of Olympia and twice was honored with election to the
office of mayor, giving to the city administrator that resulted in
much progressive work and in public benefit along many lines. He
also served for one term as a member of the territorial legislature.
To Dr. and Mrs. Ostrander were born eleven children, as
follows: Mrs. Priscilla Catherine Montague; Mary Anne, who is the
wife of Thomas Roe; Susan Charlotte, who died and was buried on
the plains; Sarah Terese, the widow of Charles Catlin, who was a
pioneer of Cowlitz county and in whose honor the town of Catlin
was named; Margaret Jane, who is the wife of Michael O'Connor,
of Olympia; Maria Evelyn, the widow of W. W. Work, who died in
Olympia in 1888; Isabella May, who is the wife of E. E. Eastman,
of Olympia; John Yantis, who passed away in 1914; Florence Eliza,
who gave her hand in marriage to Walter Crosby, of Olympia;
Fannie Lee, the wife of C. M. Moore; and Minnie Augusta, who
died in infancy. The family circle was broken again by the hand of
death when on the 7th of February, 1902, Dr. Ostrander was called
to the home beyond. He had long been a devoted member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and had filled all the offices in
both the subordinate lodge and encampment. His was indeed a
useful, active and upright life and won for him the high regard and
unqualified confidence of all with whom he came in contact.
Submitted by: Jenny Tenlen, jennyrt@halcyon.com
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