Thursday, March 18, 2010

Grandparents Odell



This is a picture of my grandparents, Edna Katherine Harris Odell and Charles Otas Odell in front of Grandpa Odell's feed store in Epping, North Dakota.

A LITTLE HISTORY OF THEM

Charles was born in Girard, Macoupin County, Illinois on May 6, 1871 and died in Epping, North Dakota on May 28, 1912 at age 41 years, 22 days. The story I heard was that my grandmother came home and found that he died sitting in his rocking chair. In reading his diary, he seemed like a very busy man, always doing something. Charles was married previous to my grandmother to Ida V. Garst in Illinois on July 24, 1895 and she died on September 15, 1908 and buried in Girard, Illinois. In my grandfather's journal he relates "my dear wife the angle(sp) of my life passed through the pearly gates this morning at 8:30 and I am left alone in this sinful world." On September 16, he started for Illinois to have her buried there. It's interesting to note that my grandfather has gravestones in three different places, one with his wife, Ida, in Girard, Illinois, one in Jamestown, North Dakota where my grandmother, Edna, is buried and the place where his body actually is, is Epping, North Dakota. I have been there and have seen his gravesite.


Edna has a very interesting life. We always celebrated her birthday on November 20th, however, I have doubts about that date since she was adopted around that date in 1889. She was adopted because her father had died and her mother had 8 children in which to care for by herself and found it daunting to say the least. I have her adoption papers from Leavenworth, Kansas but have been unable to verify her correct place and date of birth. Her birth name was Lula Mae Thurmond. Her biological parents were Elizabeth McCord Thurmond and William Anderson Thurmond. Her adoptive parents were Lucy Little Bonham Harris and George Washington Harris. Her biological father was supposedly buried in the Lath Branch Cemetery in an unmarked grave in Fort Scott, Kansas. My grandmother was born in Missouri in 1884 but I have not been able to locate a record. In 1880 in the census, her family was living in Cedar County Missouri and in 1886, her brother was born in St. Clair County, Missouri so she was born in one of those counties is my guess but cannot find a record of it. Later in life, one of her biological brothers found her and my father. Her biological mother wrote a letter detailing her birthdate and if memory serves me, I think she said in the letter that my grandmother was born in January. Have not been able to locate that letter again so my memory of it is what I have. My grandmother, Edna, died on January 6, 1966 in Jamestown, North Dakota. A note of interest is that my grandmother was on her way to WORK when she died. She worked as a medical records librarian at the Jamestown Hospital which she lived next door to. She was 81 years old! In her lifetime, she was a teacher and a bank teller. She had only one child, my father, Charles Marian Odell.
Edna and Charles were married in Epping, Williams County, North Dakota on December 31, 1909, by Reverend John Cornelius Wilson.

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