George C. Ostrander Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1113-1114 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.



	GEORGE C. OSTRANDER comes of sturdy old Dutch stock and traces his 
family history to the early settlement of the Mohawk valley, New York. 
His great-grandfather, William Ostrander, was one of the Dutch pioneers 
of Herkimer county, that state, took an active part in the settlement 
and development of the valley and became an influential factor in the 
affairs of the community which he assisted to found. His son, William, 
was a blacksmith by trade, and a man of sturdy character and generous 
impulses, who carried to successful completion any undertaking to which 
he addressed himself. He married when a young man and reared a family, 
representatives of which still live in Herkimer and neighboring counties 
of New York, while others may be found in different states of the Union, 
principally in the west, as the pioneer spirit has long been a marked 
characteristic of the family. A son of the second William, also William 
by name, was born in New York and there married Miss Abigail D. Eddy, 
whose antecedents were also among the early settlers of the Empire 
state. William and Abigail spent the greater part of their lives in the 
city of Watertown, New York, where for over twenty years the former was 
engaged in mercantile pursuits, and to them was born one son, the 
gentleman whose name furnishes the caption of this review. 

	George C. Ostrander was born October 22, 1858, in Watertown, New 
York, and received his educational training in the public schools of 
that city. At an early age he entered his father's store where he 
received a practical commercial training and assisted in conducting the 
business, until about twenty years old, when he abandoned mercantile 
life for the purpose of learning telegraphy. After becoming proficient 
in that calling he engaged with the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg 
Railroad as operator and station agent, which position he held until 
1882, when he resigned to become a salesman for the wholesale merchant 
tailoring firm of Wiggins & Goodale at Watertown. After remaining with 
the above house for a period of four.years, he resigned his place and in 
1886 came to Codington county, South Dakota, bringing forty-four head of 
milch cows with the object in view of starting a dairy and engaging in 
the general stock business. In partnership with his father, Mr. 
Ostrander purchased a fine tract of farm and grazing land, about four 
and a half miles east of Watertown, in Elmira township, where he now 
lives, and here successfully carried out his intentions by starting a 
dairy which from the beginning more than met his most sanguine 
expectations. In connection with the dairy he also established a 
creamery, the first enterprise of the kind in the state, and this also 
proved a remunerative undertaking as it soon had an extensive patronage 
and filled a long-felt want in the community. After conducting these 
lines of business for a few years and realizing therefrom handsome 
profits, he discontinued dairying and turned his attention to raising 
grain. Convinced that larger returns could be realized from wool than 
from agriculture, Mr. Ostrander subsequently discontinued tilling the 
soil and engaged in the sheep business, which he now follows with 
success and financial profit, being at this time one of the largest and 
most successful sheep raisers in Codington county. He is now running 
about eight hundred grade Shropshires, which breed he finds best suited 
to the country and by far the most remunerative, all things considered; 
and in addition to the four hundred acres comprising his own farm he 
controls about six hundred acres of fine grazing land in the vicinity in 
which he conducts his large and rapidly growing business. 

	Mr. Ostrander inherits the energy and progressive spirit for which 
his family has long been distinguished and his industry-and enterprise 
have made him an influential factor in the business affairs and public 
concerns of his adopted county. He worthily upholds an honored ancestral 
name, is a man of wide intelligence, sound judgment and unimpeachable 
integrity and the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens 
shows him the possessor of those sterling qualities of head and heart 
that beget confidence and retain warm and personal friendships. In 
politics he supports the Republican party and, while not a partisan, 
still less an office seeker, he was elected in 1902 a member of the 
board of county commissioners, which responsible position he worthily 
holds. 

	The domestic life of Mr. Ostrander dates from 1879, on October 22d 
of which year, in Watertown, New York, was solemnized his marriage with 
Miss Martha P. Heintzelman, who has borne him two children, Mabel and 
William D. Mr. Ostrander is a member of the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen of Watertown. His father is a member of the home circle at this 
time, his mother having died three years ago.