James H. Ostrander Explained

James H. Ostrander was a farmer from Waterloo, Wisconsin who served a single term as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from a Jefferson County district comprising the Towns of Waterloo, Milford, Lake Mills and Oakland.

Early years in Wisconsin

Ostrander came to what was then Aztalan township in the Wisconsin Territory in 1842, settling in Section 18. He helped organize Waterloo as a separate town in 1845 or 1846, and served as its first superintendent of schools.^[1]

Legislative service

At the time of his service in the Assembly, he was 55 years old, a native of New York state and had been in Wisconsin for 10 years. He was assigned to the standing committee on internal improvements.^[2] He was a Whig.^[3]

It is unclear what his relationship is to James W. Ostrander or to Jared F. Ostrander, who both also served in the Assembly from Jefferson County.

Notes and References

1. Daughters of the American Revolution. Wisconsin, Maunesha Chapter. History of Waterloo Waterloo, Wisconsin: The Chapter, 1915; p. 18, 19
2. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1853 Manual for the use of the assembly, of the state of Wisconsin, for the year 1853 Madison: Brown and Carpenter, Printers, 1853; pp. 70, 99, 109
3. State of Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Members of the Wisconsin Legislature 1848 - 1999 ". Information Bulletin 99-1 (September 1999), p. 90.