He trained for the ministry, and was ordained by the Central Evangelical Association of New York (an organization accused of perfectionism and "unionism") on July 8, 1835.
[1] Ostrander was part of a group of people from New York state who came to Aztalan in the Wisconsin Territory in November 1836,[2] coming from Milwaukee in wagons and a skiff.
[7] In an 1871 letter back to his old home town of Pompey, New York, Ostrander claimed to have, "[p]reached the first sermon ever preached in Madison, the Capitol of Wisconsin, standing behind a dry goods box covered with an Indian blanket, in the upper story of a store, the best meeting house the place could afford.
The resolutions passed opposed the Compromise of 1850 and endorsed Free Soil Party candidates for President and local office alike.
[11] In later years, he moved to Mantorville, Minnesota, where he was elected a probate judge, a position he held until his death on November 19, 1874.