Dr. Oesterlen was born in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, November 20, 1804. He attended a Latin and German school until he was sixteen years of age, and then entered a gymnasium at Stuttgardt, the capital of the state, where he remained four years, and was examined in the languages and admitted into the university of Tubingen, to study the different branches of medicine, and remained there five years. In 1829 he attended the Queen Catharine hospital, at Stuttgardt; was examined in the spring of 1830, and received his diploma. In the spring of 1830 he was appointed assistant surgeon in the army of Wurtemberg, and remained in said position until the fall of 1833. In the spring of 1834 he took passage for America, and in July arrived at Mansfield, Richland county, where he remained until about the first of October, and then located in Ashland, where he has been in practice nearly forty-one years. In size, the doctor is below the medium, his height being about five feet seven inches, and his weight about one hundred and twenty pounds. He is quite active, and in the full possession of all his faculties. He is very courteous and kind in his bearing towards the members of his profession. In the languages he is, perhaps, the best scholar of the medical profession of this region. He has had a good German practice for many years, and has met with excellent success. As a surgeon, he has had a good reputation, and in his prime was the best operator in the country. Of late years, from failing vision and nervousness, he has performed fewer operations. The doctor is a fine specimen of the old school German gentleman; and still adheres to many of the customs of the fatherland. As a citizen, he is law-abiding, quiet, and exemplary. As a business man, his integrity has never been disputed. Among the members of his profession he is much respected. He was among the first to aid in the formation of a medical society in this county, that courtesy, fraternity and professional zeal might be disseminated among his brethren.
For a period of nearly thirty years the doctor has been an active member of the Masonic order, and has been almost continuously the treasurer of the lodge. This speaks well for his fidelity and masonic bearing among his associates. Among the members of the lodge, as among the medical fraternity, he has been noted for his genial and unselfish disposition. He has always a kind word for the encouragement of the younger members of his profession. He is now the Nestor of his profession in this county. Learned, courteous, and proud of his profession, he hails every advancement in medical science as the harbinger of good to the race.
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Penny Hanes
