CHARLES H. VAN OSTRAND, Gorham, Fayette p.o., one of the representative citizens of his town, was born in Huron county, O., in 1837, and was a son of JACOB and PARMELIA (MERRITT) VAN OSTRAND. JACOB was born in Half Moon, Saratoga county, N.Y., and his wife was born in Ulster county, N.Y. They were married and settled in Huron county, O., in 1834, and in 1860 came to Gorham, where he purchased a farm of 120 acres, for which he paid $25 per acre. JACOB died in 1876, aged seventy years. He left a widow and family of three children, two of whom are now living: CHARLES H. and FRANCES L. MAYETTE married C.B. HERRICK, and died leaving one son, FLOYD. CHARLES H. was married in Huron county, in May 1860, to MARY C. HITCHCOCK. They have a family of three children: CARRIE E., CARL J., and NINA. CHARLES H. was drafted, and responded, but on account of the advanced age of his father, furnished a substitute for three years. He was elected county commissioner for one term (1883), and appointed one term (1881). His wife was a daughter of ASA and URSULA HITCHCOCK.
History of Henry and Fulton Counties, Ohio. Lewis Cass Aldrich, ed. Syracuse, NY: D. Mason & Co., Publishers, 1888