MERCED, Dec. 15.--Harvey J. Ostrander, one of Merced county's oldest pioneers, and one of the few real "forty-niners" in this county, died at 5 o'clock last evening at his home near Dos Palos, following an attack of pneumonia, which came upon him only a week ago. he was 88 years, 2 months and 7 days old. He leaves a widow, Mrs. Mary Ostrander, and three children, Willis Ostrander of San Francisco, Mrs. T. N. Crew of Chico, and Judge F. G. Ostrander of Merced. The funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 o'clock from the Central Presbyterian church in this city. Harvey J. Ostrander was born in New York state October 7, 1825. In his early manhood he worked as a boatman on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, returning to New York shortly before gold was discovered in California. When the gold rush of 1849 began, Mr. Ostrander was among the first to turn toward the far west. He came to California via the Rio Grande river, Mazatlan, Mexico, and San Diego. During the trip he suffered many hardships. He completed the last lap of his journey by walking from San Luis Obispo via Monterey and Stockton to the southern mines in Tuolumne county. He followed mining long enough to become wealthy, and then lost all his money in various mercantile ventures. Another "stake" he lost in the construction of dams, which were washed out the following winter. He came to Merced county in the fall of 1859, after purchasing a flour mill in Stockton. He erected this mill on the MErced river and it was the first mill south of Stockton. A year or two later he turned his attention to agriculture and was the first man to set out an orchard in this county, was the first man to irrigate land in this county and planted the first alfalfa seed in Merced county. In 1852 Mr. Ostrander returned to New York state and married Lydia Wheeler. She died in Merced in 1890. Five children were born from this union but only the three above named now are alive. For a great many years Mr. Ostrander's home ranch was at what is now the town of Planada.
~ The Fresno Morning Republican (California), Tues., 16 Dec 1913
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Prominent among the pioneer settlers of Merced county is Harvey J. Ostrander, who for more than half a century has been a resident of Merced, and one of its most respected and valued citizens. In the development of the agricultural, manufacturing and mercantile interests, he has been an active and influential force. Full of vim and energy as a young man, he was among the foremost in establishing beneficial enterprises in the county, and has the distinction of having brought the first steam flouring mill to Merced county; of being the first to improve the land by irrigation; of sowing the first alfalfa seed in this region; and of being the pioneer orchardist and vineyardist of Merced county. The story of his early life reads more like a tale of romance than like the history of a plain, matter-of-fact agriculturist, being filled with thrilling incidents and interesting facts, connected with the early settlement of the state. A son of Alexander Ostrander, Jr., he was born, October 7, 1825, in Madison county, N. Y., of Holland-Dutch ancestry, being a lineal descendant of one Von Ostrander who emigrated from Holland in 1666 and settled in New York state. His grandfather, Alexander Ostrander, Sr., a native of Washington county, N. Y., served as an Indian scout during the Revolutionary war, and afterward settled as a farmer in Madison county. N. Y., where the Ostrander families removed after the war of 1812.
~ History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time. Prof. James Miller Guinn, A. M., 1905
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Co settlement of the Merced River plains started with the close of the Civil War. In 1865, Harvey J. Ostrander sunk what is said to have been the first well on the plains out away from the streams. Its location is given in the Elliott and Moore history of 1881 as about half way between Bear Creek and Mariposa Creek and about three miles east of the present site of Merced. This well was used to water sheep; but, as the Outcalt history says, it demonstrated that the plains were habitable. Indeed, in that same year, Mr. Ostrander settled on the plains not far from where we now find Planada.
~ History of Merced County by Corwin Radcliffe, publ. 1940, pg. 91
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1880 Census, Merced Co, California:
Harvey J Ostrander, 54, farmer, b NY, parents NY.
Lydia, wife, 50, b NY, parents NY.
Sarah Gardner, dtr, 22, married, b CA.
Fred G Ostrander, son, 18, sgl, b CA.
Charles Carpenter, laborer, 27, married, b NY, parents NY.
Edith Carpenter, servant, 27, married, b NY, parents NY.
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Contributed by terence kelley, Jun 2008:
Harvey James Ostrander was the youngest child of Alexander and Mary (Annis) Ostrander, who married in Washington County, New York, in 1800. Harvey was the brother of Peter S. and Joseph.