Baker County Georgia Archives - Biographies - William Calton Odum 1839 - 1898 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: "William Wilsbach" Table of Contents page: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/baker.htm Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm WILLIAM CALTON ODUM MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS WILLIAM HOBBS ODUM WHO WAS BORN IN SAMPSON CO., N.C. IN 1804 AND DIED IN BAKER CO., GA. IN 1879. HE WAS MARRIED TO A MARY GRICE WHOSE FATHER WAS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AT THE AGE OF 16. HER DAR NO. IS 105881. THEY HAD 9 CHILDREN. RED FERN JAMES, MARTHA JANE, ELIZA KIT, HENRY GILES, OLIVER STREETY, PURDEE LARKIN, ROBERT BUNYAN, MILES IRWIN, AND MY G-GRANDFATHER WILLIAM CALTON. HIS WIFE DIED AND HE RE-MARRIED MARTHA HALL. THEY HAD 7 CHILDREN. THOMAS C, MARY, JULIA, EMMA, LULA, ELLA, AND MATTIE. MY G-GRANDFATHER, WILLIAM CALTON WAS BORN ON JUNE 4, 1839. HE MARRIED ANNIE DRAYTON BLACKBURN ON MARCH 10, 1866. THEY HAD 10 CHILDREN. WILLIAM DRAYTON, BIRD BLACKBURN, MINTA, KALLA MAY, ROBERT, JAMES HOBBS, ROY (DIED AT BIRTH ) RAY EUGENE (MY GRAND-FATHER ) EDWARD CARL, AND KATHLEEN. MY G-GRANDFATHER,(William Calton Odum) ENLISTED IN THE ARMY ON JULY 28, 1861. HE WAS IN THE 6TH. GA. INFANTRY, CO. H.-BAKER COUNTY FIRE-EATERS ( COLQUITTS BRIGADE ). IN 1862 IN THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN HE FOUGHT AT MALVERN HILL AND WAS WOUNDED IN THE THIGH IN JULY OF 1861. HE THEN FOUGHT AT ANTIETAM MD.( SHARPSBURG ) AND WAS WOUNDED IN THE RIGHT ARM , WHICH HAD TO BE AMPUTATED 4" BELOW THE SHOULDER. ANTIETAM WAS THE BLOODIEST DAY OF THE CIVIL WAR. HE WAS SENT TO HOSPITAL NO. 7 IN RICHMOND, VA. AFTER THE BATTLE. THE 6TH. GA. INF. WAS IN MANY BLOODY AND FIERCE BATTLES. UNOFFICIAL RECORDS SHOW HE REMAINED IN THE ARMY CARRYING SUPPLIES AND FOOD FOR THE TROOPS UNTIL THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. OVER 25 YEARS AGO MY MOTHER GAVE ME A PICTURE SHE HAD IN A BOX THAT HER MOTHER GAVE HER BEFORE SHE DIED. IT WAS A 3" X 4" PICTURE FROM 1861 OF HER GRANDFATHER, A GEORGIA CIVIL WAR VETERAN, WILLIAM CALTON ODUM, IN HIS ARMY UNIFORM, PROBABLY TAKEN AT HIS ENLISTMENT. IT WAS IN A LEATHER BOUND CASE AND THE PICTURE WAS ON GLASS. HE RECEIVED A PENSION OF $100.00 PER YEAR UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1898. THE PENSION DIDN'T START UNTILL 1877. HE IS BURIED AT THE BLAKELY CEMETERY IN BLAKELY, GA. IN THE ODUM PLOT. HIS WIFE ANNIE BLACKBURN DIED IN 1937 AT THE RIPE OLD AGE OF 89. THE FUNERAL WAS PAID FOR BY GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA. HE LIVED HIS WHOLE LIFE IN EARLY CO. AND BAKER CO. GA.--------NOT IMPORTANT BUT I THINK HE WAS A SUGAR CANE FARMER AND A PERSON OF HIGH REGARD. I READ SOME THINGS ABOUT HIM IN AN ARTICLE IN THE DAWSON JOURNAL FROM 1884. I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE PAPER WAS PRINTED OR WHAT TOWN. MY FATHER's SIDE WAS FROM EUROPE. MY FATHER WAS BORN IN PA. AND MET MY MOTHER DURING W.W.II AT OLIVER GENERAL HOSPITAL IN AUGUSTA, GA. A Photo of this man can be seen at http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/baker/photos/odum18266ph.jpg