The Odell Geneology
Margaret Reilly
born November 26, 1930
in Los Angeles, CA
William Douglas Odell
born June 11, 1929
in Oakland, CA
They had five children: Michael, Timothy, John Dennis, Deborah, and Charles, also known as Mike, Tim, Dennis, Debbie, and Charlie
Ernest Alfred Odell
born Sept 30, 1892
in Peekskill,
Westchester Co, NY, and died Feb 22, 1968 in Pescadero, CA.
Lillian Emma Mayer
born January 28, 1894
in Carlton, MN, and died April 8, 1990 in L.A. CA.
married in 1914 in Hanford,
Kings County, CA.
William Robert Mayerborn Dec 1857 in Superior, Douglas County, Wisconsin. Don't know death date.
Lillian Elizabeth Owens
born June 1860
in Pennsylvania, don't know death date.
married in 1890; I believe in Carlton MN. They had 4 children: Rebecca J.,
Lillian Emma, Barbera and Dorothy.
Annie Abbey Rundall
born June 1872 in New
York State, and died Mar 30, 1943 in L.A. CA.
Oscar Wright Odell
born March 16, 1866
in Putnam Valley, Putnam, NY, and died Jun 1, 1952 in L.A. CA.
They married in 1888 in the state of NY. They had 5 children: Bertha, Ernest, Clara, Benjamin and Douglas.
Andrew Jackson Odell born in 1830 in the state of NY, died Feb 23, 1877.
Rachel Hadden born Feb 1835 in NY, and died Nov 4, 1915.
He was a farmer. He married in 1852
in NY. They had ten children: Samantha, Mary, Margery Ann, Jackson, Susan, Oscar,
Sanford, Marvin, Hosea and Everett.
William Odell, born in 1793 in the state of NY,
don't know death date.
Hannah Morgan
She was born in 1801 in NY.
He was a farmer. He married Hannah Morgan about
1828. They had 3 children that I know of: Andrew Jackson, Nelson and Emeline.
??? Banker
born 1836, died 1872.
Isaac S Rundall, born in 1836 in NY state.
He married someone with the last name of Banker. They had 4 children: Annie, Ida, Laura and Alice.
The Odell Family
by Maureen McKernan
Peekskill, N.Y., Evening Star, Monday, August 14, 1951
A governor, scores of military men, a newspaper publisher, a member of a pirate Black Beard's crew, preachers, tavern keepers and John D. Rockefeller's favorite school master.
Such have been the descendants of William Odell, ancestor of the Odells in America. The only poet of record is Allan Odell, son of the head of Burma Shave, who originated the roadside jingles that catch the motorists' eyes from coast to coast. Best known today in Westchester is Wallace Odell of Tarrytown, vice president of the Westchester County Publishers and many times official of both state and national newspaper associations. Correspondence of Mrs. Llywellyn Williams Lewis of Tarrytown, descendant of Jonathan Odell of War fame who was a great grandson of the original American Odell, shows that there are Odells today in practically every state.
Opposed Queen of Scots
William Odell the ancestor, younger son of an English baronial family, fled to America in about 1637 after his family had made the mistake of siding with Lady Jane Grey against Mary--Queen of Scots. From Concord in 1644 he went to Fairfield, Conn, where he died in 1676. Some of his sons stayed in Connecticut and founded the New England line. His oldest son, William, was one of the 15 men who founded Rye in 1662.
The later Williams was also one of the original purchasers of White Plains. His inclusion in both groups indicates that he was a respected man of wealth. A "Goodie Odell", presumably his mother, is recorded as one of the judges in Fairfield in a witchcraft trial, according to Frederick Haacker of New York, whose hobby for years has been tracing the genealogy of the Odell family of which his wife is a member.
Of the sons of William of Rye, Samuel inherited the Rye estates and stayed there. His daughter Sarah Married John Archer, son of the last Lord of Fordham Manor. Her brother John moved to Fordham when he was twenty-two, died in 1735. This John of Fordham is the ancestor of the Odell families to be found in Yonkers today as well as of most of the "Tarrytown Odells" who were descended from John's grandson, Jonathan, of Revolutionary War fame.
Start of Greenburgh Odells
Isaac, another son of John, born in Rye in 1675, married Ann Tompkins and bought a big farm which included the present Gramatan Park on Lincoln Avenue, Mount Vernon. His descendants became known as the Greenburgh Odells and Wallace Odell is this line.
The gatehouse on the Murray estate at 100 South Broadway, Irvington, was the Albany Post Road tavern of Jonathan Odell in 1776. Opposite it stood the blacksmith shop of his son Abraham. Both were ardent patriots and the inn gave shelter to the Committee of Safety and the Provincial Congress, the Patriots' "undergrounds" ruling bodies within the British lines. Abraham rendered great service to Washington, as a scout, became a captain, later was Town Supervisor and eventually went to the State Assembly. Jonathan's 463-acre farm later was bought by Alexander Hamilton's son and during the Victorian days was the estate of the fabulously wealthy Wendell family.
A map of 1784 owned by Mrs. Lewis shows more than two dozen Odell farms between Yonkers and Peekskill, along the Hudson and Saw Mill River Valley. Until 1934 the Colonial home of Abraham Odell, who was a major in the War of 1812, stood on the Saw Mill River at Odell Avenue, Yonkers. The house, which for some years served as the first clubhouse for the St. Andrews Golf Club, was torn down when the Homefield real estate development was started in 1934.
A Close Friend of Washington
The brown shingle house on Ridge Street, Hartsdale, where French Gen. Rochambeau lived at the time of the Battle of White Plains, was the homestead of Col. John Odell, close friend of Washington.
Governor Benjamin Barker Odell, New York Governor from 1901 to 1905, was a descendant of Jonathan of the famous tavern. Uke Isaac Odell of Yonkers, a scout for Washington, was rated by officers of the Colonial Army as "most alert and intelligent."
The Odell pirate was one Samuel Odell who survived the battle on Nov. 22, 1718, with the British Navy off the Carolina Capes in which Black Beard was killed. Samuel, only, of Black Beard's men was acquitted when he convinced the British Admiralty that he had been an unwilling captive, taken from a British sloop that had been scuttled by Black Beard. Samuel survived 70-gunshot wounds in Black Beard's final battle.
Moses Fowler Odell of Tarrytown was a Congressman during the Civil War and his brother Samuel U. F. Odell, was U. S. Consul General to the Kingdom of Hawaii. The world famous firm of pipe organ builders in Yonkers, headed by Harry E. Odell and his brothers, William H. and J. Franklin Odell, was founded by their ancestor, Caleb H. Odell and his brother, John, descendants of, John of Fordham. A grandson of Jonathan of the famous tavern, was the Rev. C. F. Odell who was a famous baseball pitcher at Yale in the 80s.
Hiram Taught John D.
Hiram Odell of Owego, N. Y., taught the first country school attended by John D. Rockefeller, near Owego. Until the aged school master died, Mr. Rockefeller visited in his home almost every year.
James Odell of Yonkers, in 1775, was an iron monger for the American Navy. He helped forge the great chain which was laid across the Hudson near the site of today's Bear Mountain Bridge, to safeguard West Point from naval attack.
Berlinger's Bar and Gill of today, at Dwyer Avenue and the Boston Road, just south of Mount Vernon city line, is the only remaining Colonial post road tavern. It was operated by Stephen B. Odell fro 1850 to 1898. Stephen was the owner of the famous trotter, Katie's Darling. His grandson is Stephen Odell of New Rochelle.
Levi Odell of Eastchester invented an early typewriter that sold by mail for $3.50. Lank Odell was president of New York's first street car line and himself drove the first trolley horse drawn in its initial trip from City Hall to 14th Street. Moses Odell of Brooklyn, a Civil War "Lincoln Democrat" was a great friend of Lincoln. He later was Collector of the Port.
The Tory Odell whom Odells forget was the Rev. Jonathan Odell of Fairfield, satirist and propagandist for the Loyalists during the Revolution. At the end of the war he went to New Brunswick, Canada where he was Provincial Secretary for many years.
WILLIAM ODELL, SR. was born February 24, 1601/02 in Parish of Odell, Bedfordshire, Bucks, England, and died June 06, 1676 in Fairfield, CT. He married REBECCA BROWN May 04, 1629 in Braham, Bedfordshire, England. She was born 1606 in Parish of Odell, Bedfordshire, Bucks, England, and died 1674 in Fairfield, CT.
WILLIAM ODELL, SR.
By: Flossie Fern Odle Wagner July 7, 1971
The first Odells in America were William and John, who came from the village of Odell in Bedfordshire, England.
Due to a dissatisfaction with the Church of England, there was a migration of Puritan, 1630-40. In America they established the second permanent English Colony on Massachusetts Bay called Concord, the first settlement away from the coast. The settlers wished to establish their own church and escape from the harsh laws that required them to belong to the Church of England. They were called Puritans because they wished to 'purify the services and teachings of the Church of England. Many of the Puritans belonged to the well-to-do middle class in England and were able to set themselves up in the New World more comfortably than the Pilgrims and early Virginians.
All emigrants from England at that period had to bring a certificate from the Justice of the Peace and the minister of the parish in which they lived before embarking on the ships to America. In a record by James Savage, it says, "It is quite probable that to evade the despicable tyranny of the regulation, a true description of the persons was sometimes concealed." Peter Bulkeley was not called a minister because his departure would have been forbidden. We know in the voyage of the "Abigail", 40 passengers more than are mentioned came over, some who thought it best, no doubt, be taken on after the clearance of the vessel. (MA Historical Series 3, Vol.8)
New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 46, page 20 gives "WILLIAM ODELL, founder of the family in America" as coming to New England with Rev. Peter Bulkeley from the Parish of Odell, Bedfordshire, England, where he had been rector of All Saint's Church for many years, and that he was allied to the Odell family through his marriage with Grace, daughter of Sir Richard Chetwood. Rev. Peter Bulkeley came to America where he founded Concord, Massachusetts in 1635.
Besides the emigrants wish for religious freedom, they hoped to farm the fertile meadows and trade with a friendly Indian tribe whose camp was nearby. (From a History of Concord.) They purchased the land from the Indians, dealing the ruler, Squaw Sachem.
From: "Andrea O'Dell" <odella@frontiernet.net>
Subject: Odells of New York
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 19:37:03 -0400
I have received a great amount of requests for Odell/O'Dell /s of New York and will respond to everyone; however, it may take me a little but of time to get to each request. Glad to here so many fellow O'Dells are interested in our family trees.
Thank you also to anyone who sent me their O'Dell line or GED com file. My goal (which I may never reach) is to include as many of the U.S. O'Dell lines as possible in one, huge database. There are about 35,000 descendents of William Odell (1601-1676) in the US who share the surname, I would assume something similar (in proportion) for our Canadian and Australian cousins.
My O'Dell ancestors moved from England to the U.S.; then some moved to Canada (particularly the maritime provinces), many more moved south, then to the western U.S. If any one has Canadian lines to include, I'd love to hear from them. The same goes for the Australian branch, undoubtedly, your lines also descend from similar regions in England (e.g., Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, etc.).
A common path of migration in the U.S. has been MA, then CT, NY/NJ, towards VA/TN etc. to Texas west through to California. If you know the dates an ancestor first settled in a state, it can help in tracing the line's ascent. Some O'Dells, of course, stayed in MA, Rhode Island, etc. The last common path I know of is MA, CT, Lower NY State (Westchester, Orange, Rockland Counties) to Northern NY, to Canada (New Brunswick, and adjacent provinces.)
Hope to hear from more listers. I'll be responding to all requests as soon as possible.
Andrea O'Dell
Westchester, New York
It's difficult to sort out Odells before William. Peekskill and Westchester are neighboring counties. The Odell family occupied a prominent place in the county of Westchester NY. They descended from William Odell of Concord, Mass, 1639. He came to New England in 1635 with the Rev. Peter Bulkely who was rector of the parish of Odell in Bedfordshire, England. William Odell died at Fairfield, Connecticut, June, 1676, and from his sons John and William, the Westchester family spring.
The Odells in America
Odells in the United States (some 35,000) are descended from William Odell, who arrived around 1639 after fleeing persecutrion from religious intolerance. Here's some tidbits from Odell relatives and researchers explaining the Odell's Puritan heritage. The Odell line is a well-documented early/founding New England family.
This is from William Allan Odell of Montreal, who made extensive research into ancient history of Odells.
From: "Andrea O'Dell" <odella@frontiernet.net>
Subject: Odells of Westchester County New York
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 21:31:16 -0400
< Andrea, I cannot seem to get back any further than Issac ODELL bn 1676 in Westchester; who married Patience Ann TOMKINS. I have 5 children for them. Beverly >
To Beverly and Odell Listers: This is a popular and well-documented line:
7. Isaac Odell (1675) + Anne Patience Tompkins Fordham-Rye, Westchester, NY
6. William Odell, Jr. (1630/1634) + Sarah Vowles (or ffowles or Fowles)
Cranfield, Bedfordshire and Newport Pagnall, Buckinghamshire, England; Moved to Salem and Concord, MA, then to Rye and White Plains, Westchester, NY. William, Jr. was one of the founders of Rye and White Plains, New York, and a developer (with other partners) of much of what is now New York City)
5. William Odell, Sr. (1601) + Rebecca Brown (first wife) Cranfield, Bedfordshire and Newport Pagnall, Buckinghamshire, England; attended church at All Saints, Odell parish, Odell, Bedforshire; Moved to Salem and Concord, MA, briefly to Long Island, NY; then to town of Fairfield, Fairfield County, CT, where he died before June 6, 1676. Founding member of the Odell line in the US, early Massachusetts Bay Company Puritan, sailed in one of Winthrop's fleet between 1634 and 1639 to Massachusetts. A huge amount of reseach is published and available on William. Either his wife or his daughter participated in the 1654 witch trial of Goody Knapp.
4. Richard of Newport Odell (1576) + Martha Nichols of Newport Pagnall, England
Transcript of his will, naming William beneficiary, is available.
3. Richard of Newport Odell (1540) + Elizabeth Pierce (or Peirce/Perst/Peirde)
2. Richard ... Odell (1518) + Anne Rogers
1. Richard ... Odell (1490) + Catherine Mangus
I can include a lot of details, articles, church records and great source books on generation #7 - 4 above in the future.
Andrea O'Dell
Westchester, NY
If you are a descendant of William Odell (1601) you are entitled to membership in several pedigree societies. See Americas Founding Families for information on which societies to apply, and how to apply for membership.
In the Town House at Concord, MA.,
the birth of children of William Odell are recorded as follows:
"James, the 'sonne' of William Odell was borne the 20 of the 11th month, 1639, and was buried 40 (2) 1641."
Rebecca, the daughter of William Odell was borne the 17 (5) 1642.
Another son, John was born in 1643, although it is not recorded at Concord.
After William (1), the first Odell in America, helped establish the town of Fairfield, he remained there until his death in 1676, where his will dated June 6, 1676 and probated June 12, 1676, disposing of 447 pounds, names no wife but names sons William and John; daughter Rebecca Morehouse; daughter-in-law Mary Odell; son-in-law Samuel Morehouse; grandsons, John Odell, Samuel Morehouse, Thomas Morehouse, John Morehouse and Jonathan Morehouse. The following is the record of his will:
William Odell (1) died in 1676, in June of which year, his will was probated, in which he gave his son William, who had settled at Greenwich, CN., his horses, cattle, swine and sheep and 1/3 of his moveable estate; to his grandson Samuel Morehouse, son of his daughter, Rebecca, all his land near Uncoway River, called Rossiter's Field, 2 acres in the great Meadow before the town, land in Concord field called "Poor Man's Lot", building lot, long lot, all his land, dividends in Compo, all his housing and half his house lot in Fairfield out of which legacies said Samuel Morehouse was to pay his brothers Thomas and John L5 each when twenty-one years of age. To his grandson John Odell, all land on the other side of the creek and the half of his home lot; to Jonathan Morehouse 2 sheep; to Goody Knop, 4 yards of red cloth; to daughter-in-law Mary Odell, his wife's red broadcloth cloak. All remaining estate he gave his son, John Odell, and his daughter Rebecca Morehouse; he made his son-in-law and John Odell his executors.
The Odells in England
Lady Jane Grey was a Queen of England. She assumed the throne in 1553 as Edward VI lay in his death bed. Despite the Council recognising her claim, the country rallied to Mary, Catherine of Aragon's daughter and a devout Roman Catholic. Lady Jane Grey reigned for only nine days and was later executed (as was her husband) in 1554.
The Puritans Arrive in Massachusettes
by Joyce Carol Oates
The Puritans’ doctrine emphasized the belief that all humans are sinners and that man cannot understand God. Their beliefs were unpopular, and the ideas of religious tolerance that we are familiar with, mostly because of the influence of their experience, were unknown then. The fortune of English politics shifted between Catholics and Protestants, but neither side liked Puritans, who were tortured and jailed. With the development of New England, Puritans saw a chance to get away from the persecution they suffered at home. In 1606, the Virginia Company was organized as a functional corporation to develop the resources of the new land; they settled Jamestown, the first European settlement in New England, in 1607.
In 1623, the Reverend John White of Dorchester arrived in America with about fifty Puritans, but the land where they arrived was too hard to cultivate, so most went back to England, leaving a few who, with the help of the Indians, settled Salem, Massachusetts. In 1628, White founded a new corporation, the New England Company, which he later renamed the Massachusetts Bay Company for legal reasons. They received permission from the government to establish the territory of Massachusetts, and, most important, to run the government of the colony from Massachusetts, not from England. The Massachusetts Territory ranged for about sixty miles north and south of Salem (a western boundary was not set, because they believed America only extended a few miles past the Atlantic ocean anyway). In 1630, eleven ships owned by the Massachusetts Bay Company carried Puritans to America.
important as a source of a blue dye. (Julius Caesar had reported that he had found the Ancient Britons stained themselves with it!)
WAHUL HISTORY 1066-1633
After the battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror and his Normans progressively took control of the whole of England. In many cases regions were given to fellow soldiers to manage. The lands owned by Levenot, along with the title of Baron, were passed to a Walter Flandrensis, the Count of Flanders, who is thought to have fought alongside William.
Walter is mentioned as early as 1068, and sometimes as Walter de Wahul (Wahul being a variant of Wadehelle). His arrival marked the start of a period of centuries during which a family bearing an Odell-type name continued to hold most of these lands.
Amongst the de Wahul dynasty were a number of interesting characters. The wild Simon de Wahul was described by the Archbishop of Canterbury as an "invader" of Ramsey Abbey. It is also known that Simon sided with Prince Henry in 1172 when Henry rebelled against his father. On the other hand, Simon's own son, another Simon, was very devout. He ended up dying in 1191 on a crusade.
In 1542, in the absence of a male heir, the estate came to 17-day old Agnes Woodhall (like Wodelle this is another variant of the name). She married twice and her son by Richard Chetwood, also called Richard, became the heir to the estate on her death in 1575.
About this time the village often becomes referred to as Odell.
In 1613 Richard made efforts to be recognised as Baron of Odell (a claim his 18th C. great-great-grandson and 19th. C. descendant also later pursued) but without success. In 1633, Richard sold the estate to William Alston and, after five hundred years, Odell village was no longer under the influence of a descendant of the family bearing the same name.
THE ENGLISH VILLAGE OF ODELL
By: Flossie Fern Odle Wagner July 7, 1971
The village now known as Odell lies to the north of the county town of Bedford, near the villages of Harrold, Pavenham, Milton Ernest and Turvey. The following is a brief account of the local history.
ROMAN AND SAXON PERIOD
Evidence of occupation includes the remains of a farm dating from just before the Roman Conquest. It comprised two round timber buildings inside a fenced enclosure, and two cremation pits. After the conquest its survival and prosperity may have been linked to the existence of a Roman presence at Irchester.
The evidence is that the farm was abandoned in the 4th C. and remained unoccupied until the 6/7th C. After this it no doubt experienced a chequered history owing to attacks in the area by Danish vikings.
In the early 11th C. the area where the present village lies was part of five or more "hides" that were under Levenot, a thane of King Edward the Confessor, who owned much land.
At that time the village was already known by the name of Wadelle, or Wadehelle. This name means "the hill where woad grows". Woad (Isatis tinctoria) was
And another source: The first Odell was Walter Flandrensis, the last Count of Flander, brother of Matilda of Flander, wife of William the Conqueror, with whom he came to England in 1066 and became the first Baron Odell. He held a great barony in Bucks, Englnad, in 1086 of which Wahull or Woodhull, meaning wood hill, was the chief county seat, and from him descende the Barons Wahul, Wodhull, woodhull, Odell, which is found spelled varoious ways in old records. Odel, Odle, Oadele, Odil, etc. All Odells undoubtedly descend from Walter Flandrensis, first Baron Odell, direct descendants of whom were closely related to at least four kings of England, William the Norman, Alfred the Great, Edward the Second, and Henry the VIII. The title from which the name was derived was bestowed 1066.
There are compilations by Odell genealogists that make the claim that there exists in the possession of the Counts of Flanders a complete and unbroken record traced back to Priam, the King of Troy, about 1200 BC. The titles and estates were bestowed upon the first Baron Odell by William the Conqueror for distinguished military services in the conquest of England. The head of the barony was at Odell, Bedfordshire, Englnad, where Odell church and Odell castle remain. William and John Odell went to America and settled in New Hampshire, later becoming part of New York.
Online Sources
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/odell/pats
http://www.genealogyboard.com/odell/
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/g/u/i/Mary-k-Guinn/GENE1-0002.html
http://www.genealogyboard.com/odell/
messages/2402.html
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/o/h/a/William-F-Ohalloran/GENE2-0015.html
http://www.familytreemaker.com/_glc_/6001/6001_16.html
Colonial America, 1607-1789 CT Census Index , Page 16
http://www.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/ifa_image.cgi?IN=000588&PN=334&SEC=Pioneers%20of%20Massachusetts&CD=526
http://family.odell.net/ode_beds.html
http://searches2.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
th/read/ODELL/2004-07/1090885023
1653 NEng/CT Fairfield 1 Knapp, "Goody" f Hanged. (Source: Drake, Frederick C. "Witchcraft in the American Colonies, 1647-62" American Quarterly 20 (1968):694-725)
from Andrea O'Dell:
Free Sites:
Savage's Sew England Dictionary: www.usigs.org/library/books/ma/savage/savage.htm See William Odell
America's Founding Families: www.linkline.com/personal/xymox/ See William Odell, Tompkins family
Witch Trial of Goody Knapp: www.geocities.com/mayes_deb/newengland/goody1.htm#Top
See testimony of Goodwife (Rebecca Sr. or Jr.) Odell
Great Genealogy source for Colonial Odells in general, and particularly Colonial Odells in Virgina
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~genbel/august/varecordsaug.htm
Great colonial Odell site, but with a yearly membership fee:
http://www.newenglandancestors.org
valley with a stream flowing through it.
"Family movement is as follows: From Odellum to the Black Sea, west coast; from there to the Baltic, thence to what is now Northern Prussia; from there to Holland, then to England in the reign of Queen Mary. She confiscated the estates of the direct line and drove them out of England. The others changed their names to protect themselves and their propery. This, history signifies, brought into use the number of names derived from the old family name. History does not support spelling the name "O'Dell," but it is "O'dle." It is known that the old Baron of Woods and Hills, chief of the tribe of Odell, in what is now Holland, had been to England prior to 1066 as he knew the country quite well around Hastings. After the conquest of 1066, he built castles, roads, and walls for William the Conqueror. The family pleaded with King John and also took sides with the barons in having John sign the Magna Charta. Members of the family were instrumental in making the foundation for the Church of England and built many small chapels in England."
"Odell stock originally Phoenician, the men were Phoenicians and the women reported to beo of the tribe of Benjamin or Levi. The family originated about 625 BC at what was later the city of Odellum meaning a dell or small
During the first century the town of Concord scarcely maintained itself, so in the summer of 1644, 16 families under the leadership of Rev. John Jones removed to Connecticut where they founded the town of Fairfield, and among these were the family of WILLIAM ODLE (ODELL). There is no mention of the wife of William Odell, but genealogists are satisfied that wife was Rebecca Brown, married in 1633, not proven, also that they had a son William, born in England in 1634. The Odell chart says she died before 1644, but page 6 of Lockwood Genealogy says, "13 May, 1654, Court of New Conn. "Goodwife Odell present when Goodwife Knapp was hanged for a witch".
