General Notes

William came from England to Concord in 1639,  a member of Peter Bulkeley's congregation. William was born in the parish of Odell, Bedford, England. In 1644, William Odell moved to Fairfield, Connecticut, and his son William became one of the principal proprietors of Rye, New York. (NEHGR, 29:203; 137:37).

William Odell was the younger son of an English baronial family, fled to America in about 1639 after his family had made the mistake of siding with Lady Jane Grey against Mary--Queen of Scots. After living at 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. William Jr. 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.
William may have been a brother of Ursula Wodell (also written Odle), who married Christoper Wooley at Concord in 1646 (King, NEHGR, 60:91). His will, proved 6 June 1676, mentions, among others, sons William and John and daughter Rebecca Moorehouse. Cranfield, Bedford, England, is a small parish about eight miles from the village of Odell. The Cranfield church register records nearly seventy entries of Odell baptisms, marriages, and burials between 1602 and 1625, the name variously written Wodell, Odell, Odle, Woddell, Woddle, etc. Among these: Willliam, son of William Wodell of Warleyend, baptised 24 Feb 1602, and William Odle of Worley buried 22 Jul 1615. This may be the record of the baptism of the William Odell who came to New England and the burial of his father. The name "Warleyend" is doubtless that of a hamlet about one mile from Cranfield, which appears on an old map of Bedfordshire as "Wallerd" or "Wall End." In Cranfield Parish there was in 1632 a district, or possibly an estate, known as "Virginia." At Concord, the original road cut through the woods by the first settlers had been called, since 1650, "the Virginia Road" and the district through which it runs, "Virginy." The plain at the end of Virginia Road was described as "Cranefield" as early as 1648. It would seem that these names, Virginia and Cranefield, were given by the early settlers of Concord in memory of their English home (See NEHGR, 45:7-8).
William Odell is purportedly memorialized as a "Concord Planter" on a plaque in the Fairfield Public Library together with Rev. John Jones, Thomas Bulkley, Thomas Jones, John Tompkins, Daniel Bulkley, Joseph Middlebrook, Ephraim Wheeler, Thomas Wheeler, Jr., James Bennett, Richard Lettiss, John Ebats, Peter Johnson, George Squire, and Benjamin Turney. Ridge, Bateman Connection, 173:


Source: "Banks Topographical Dictonary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England, 1620- 1650, Pub. 1963"
Page 1: Bedfordshire, ODELL, William, Clapham Parish, Ship:  Planter, To Concord, Mass, NEGR, 60/91
Page 9, Buchinghamshire, ODELL, William, Newport Pagnell Parish, Ship: Hopewell, To Concord, Mass, Banks Mss.
Source: "Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families, 1620 - 1700, By: Holmes, Pub. 1964"
Page: clxxvi; ODELL, ODLE: The family is of ancient English ancestry, in later years located at Bedfordshire, England, William, came to Concord, Mass 1639, removed to Southampton, 1642, soon afterwards to Fairfield, Conn.
Source: "Boltons Armerican Armory", By: Bolton, 1964
Page: 123, Odell, Or. 3 Crescents [gu]? Crest: A Cock, Motto: ne quid nimis, From a bookplate of REv. Jonathan Odell, a N.J. tory, NYG&B record, April 1903, Page 99.
Source: "A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England...Etc." By: Farmer, Pub. 1969
Page: 210, ODELL, William, Concord 1639, had son James born in 1639.
Source: "Croziers General Armory...etc." By: Wm. Armstrong Crozier, Pub. 1966
Page 99, ODELL, Massachusetts, William Odell, Concord, 1640, Ar. three crescents, Gu., Crest: An Eagle displayed Gu.
              ODELL, New York, William Odell, [Jr.]  Rye, 1661, Same Arms as Odell of Mass.
Source: " History of the Colonial Gentry, Vol. II", Page 821 [ Chetwood Link]

Children of William ODELL and Rebecca BROWN:
William Odell, born about 1634; died in Rye, Westchester, New York, 1697. Manning has him born 1634, of Newport Pagnell, Buckingham, England. Married Sara Vowles.
James Odell, born in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, 2 January 1640; buried in Concord, 4 April 1641. (Birth and death record NEHGR, 4:272)
Rebecca Odell, born in Concord, 17 Jul 1642. Married Samuel Morehouse. Birth record, NEHGR, 4:272.
John Odell, married Mary (Joanna) Walker.