John ODELL

Bef 1638 - 1707

• Name	John ODELL  [1, 2]
  	Although the births of John's siblings, James and Rebecca, were recorded in Concord, no record of John's birth is found. it is possible that he sailed as an infant from England with his parents. John was first mentioned in Fairfield records on 8 February 1673 when a deed noted that he had had "quiet possession" for eight years of a parcel of upland and meadow at Greenlea containing twelve acres. this is likely the same twelve acres that John's father William received from the Town of Fairfield 8 April 1660. John and wife Mary had married about 1665, so it is possible that John received the land as a gift from his father and built a home there. Two other gifts from William to John were recorded 24 November 1673, twenty acres in Greelea neck and two acres in Greenlea meadow. At a General Assembly held at Hartford 13 October 1664, John was "accepted to be made free," i.e., named a freeman. Mr. Gould and Mr. Sherman were appointed to administer the "oath of freedom." As a result of his freeman status, John began receiving regular grants of land from the Town of Fairfield..... In the list of the Fairfield's inhabitants and the amount of land that had been granted to them in the year 1670/71, John was cited with 467 acres, compared to his father's 362 acres. The value of John's estate was placed at 143 pounds, sixteen shillings compared to his father's 111 pounds, eight shillings. Compared to other Fairfield inhabitants, John was right in the middle; forty-nine had larger estates; fifty-two had smaller estates. On 7 May 1678, a petition signed by John Odell, Isak Wheeler and Mathew Sherwood was sent to the General Court in Hartford on behalf of the residents of Pequonnock. In it, they noted that "they live almost four miles distant from the center of the town, and find it very difficult to get their children educated at school" because of the distance to the school. "They have hired a schoolmaster..and have "forty-seven children already entered at (their own) school. They desire no help from the town for the support of this school, but ask that they be freed from paying to the town in reference to their school" (four miles away in the center of Fairfield). On 9 May 1678, at a Court of Election held in Hartford, the Court approved the petition and went on to "recommend it to the said Court of Fairfield to emprove so much of their county revenues as they can spare besides, for the settlement and encouragement of a grammar school there (in Pequonnock)". Joh may have had some kind of partnership with Samuel Treadwell, as the Town of Fairfield exchanged a twenty acre parcel of land with them in 1685. In 1685 and 1686, John and Treadwell exchanged a twenty-acre parcel and a thirteen-acre parcel with John's son-in-law Samuel Morehouse. On 18 March 1689/90, John and sons John junior and Samuel were all named to the list of freemen in the Town of Fairfield. John died sometime between 22 April 1707 when he wrote his will and 6 May 1707 when it was exhibited in the Fairfield Court of Probates by the witnesses. At the Court, it was approved and ordered to be recorded. [1]
  Birth	Bef 1638	Poss. in England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	Between 22 Apr and 6 May 1707	Stratford, Fairfield Co., Connecticut   [1, 2]
  Person ID	I41820	Main Tree
  Last Modified	18 May 2020

  
  

  Father	William ODELL,   b. Abt 1618, Prob. Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, England d. Between 06 and 12 Jun 1676, Fairfield, Fairfield Co., Connecticut
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	UNKNOWN
  Relationship	Birth
  Family ID	F22891	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary ?   d. Bef 22 Jan 1711/2
  Marriage	Abt 1665  [1]
  Children	1. John ODELL,   b. Abt 1666, Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA d. 01 Jun 1743, Stratfield, Connecticut (Age 77 years)  [Birth] + 2. Elizabeth ODELL   d. Bef 1745   3. Rebecca ODELL   d. Bef 11 Jan 1741/2  [Birth]   4. Samuel ODELL,   b. 10 Mar 1677, Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA d. 1727 (Age 49 years)  [Natural]   5. Hannah ODELL,   b. 20 Oct 1679, Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA d. 14 Jun 1756 (Age 76 years)  [Birth]   6. Deborah ODELL,   b. 28 Aug 1682, Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA d. 23 May 1745, Greenfield, Connecticut (Age 62 years)  [Birth]   7. Mary ODELL,   b. Abt 1693, Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA d. 13 Aug 1771, Trumbull, Fairfield Co., Connecticut (Age 78 years)  [Birth]   8. Martha ODELL,   b. Abt 1695   d. Aft 1764 (Age 70 years)  [Birth]
  Family ID	F22890	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	18 May 2020

  
  

• Sources

  [S11477] Connecticut Ancestry 2020 May Vol. 62 No. 4. [S01785] Donald Lines Jacobus, Ancestry.com: History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield, (Name: Name: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.;;).