Biography of William Odell - Conway Co, AR

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Submitted by: Cathy Barnes <bbarnes@cswnet.com>
        Date: 21 Jun 1998
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
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SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas.
Goodspeed Publishers, 1891.

page 96

William Odell, carriage and wagon manufacturer, of Morrilton, was born
in East Tennessee in September, 1842. He was the oldest in a family of
ten children born to Jobe and Ellen (Sawyer) Odell; parents were
natives of Tennessee, and grandparents on both sides were pioneers to
that State; father was a farmer, and died in Tennessee. In 1868 our
subject with his mother and all the family emigrated from Tennessee to
Arkansas and located near St. Charles, in Arkansas County, where, in a
few days, all the family except one girl, Hannah, were stricken down
with smallpox; from that attack the mother and two daughters (Ellen
and Polly) died. Our subject, being the oldest, kept the family
together and they made their home in Arkansas County till about 1878,
when he came to Morrilton and at once founded his present business. He
erected the first shop in the town, and though beginning in a small
way, soon built up a good trade. His buggies have an excellent
reputation for good mechanical work and many of them are in use in
Morrilton and the surrounding country. He also erected a home on his
arrival, and has since built several other buildings in the place. In
the spring of 1890 he erected his new shop, 40×24 feet, to which he
intends to make further additions soon; besides buggies, he puts up
wagons of all kinds, and also does some repairing. He recently erected
a new residence which has a location on an eminence near the center of
town, is built on a natural building site, and from its roof is
secured a most magnificent view of the surrounding country; its
dimensions are 48×36 feet, two-story frame, is finished in good taste,
and is one of the pleasant homes in Morrilton. Mr. Odell also owns a
number of choice lots on Melton Hill. Our subject has been married
three times. In 1870 to Miss Mollie Burke, an old acquaintance from
Tennessee; she died after a short married life of three months and
sixteen days. He then married the second time, in 1874, to Sarah J.
Hoyle, a native of this State; she died in Morrilton about 1880, and
left one child, a boy, Thomas, who also died soon after its mother.
Mr. Odell now married the third time, to his present wife, Sarah J.
Morgan, in 1882; she is a native of Arkansas, and daughter of John
Morgan, an early settler and merchant at Springfield. Mr. Odell is
active and enterprising, and has seen many changes in Morrilton since
he put up his first shop among the timber twelve years ago-more than
that, he can reflect with satisfaction that he has contributed to no
small extent to these changes and improvements.