William Odell (1603)
Birth and Background
The next clue involves an English court case almost certainly relating to WILLIAM ODELL, the immigrant. In 1913, J. HENRY LEA and J. R. HUTCHINSON published an article regarding the English origins of WILLIAM ODELL. In the Buckingham Archdeacon's visitation books is a reference to EDWARD HARTLEY being cited for quarreling with WILLIAM ODELL in the churchyard of Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. The quarrel turned into a brawl, and HARTLEY stabbed ODELL in the arm. On 17 April 1637, HARTLEY was questioned and punished for his actions. In the margin of the document is a notation dated 17 October 1639 stating that both parties were now absent in New England. Of course, the vital records of Concord show that WILLIAM was in Concord by 17 January 1639/40 when his son JAMES was born. LEA and HUTCHINSON were no doubt correct in identifying the assault victim as WILLIAM ODELL, later of Concord. However, they went on to claim that WILLIAM was identical to a WILLIAM ODELL mentioned as the eldest son in the will of RICHARD ODELL of Newport Pagnell. This is the origin of the incorrect claim that WILLIAM ODELL, the immigrant, is the son of RICHARD.
It is unfortunate that LEA and HUTCHINSON did not search further. In 1938 the late DONALD LINES JACOBUS went on to examine the parish registers of Newport Pagnell, publishing his results in The American Genealogist, of which he was the editor. WILLIAM, son of RICHARD ODELL, was christened on 23 October 1625, too young to be the immigrant or the brawler in the churchyard. JACOBUS found no suitable WILLIAM ODELL christened in Newport Pagnell, but, he concluded, "It can scarcely be doubted that the colonist came from a parish close to Newport Pagnell."7 The will of RICHARD ODELL of Newport Pagnell mentions freehold land in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, which is about five miles east of Newport Pagnell
One of the problems with prior ODELL research is that the ODELL entries from Cranfield published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register in 1891 are not complete; yet these are the source data for many of the claims that have appeared in print. The entries were taken from the bishop's transcripts of the parish rather than the original parish register. A comparison with the original register shows that the published ODELL entries are vastly deficient. The other problem is that they do not extend prior to 1600.
The parish registers of Cranfield were searched from 1600 through 1630. The probable ancestor, WILLIAM ODELL, and his brother RICHARD were found. Our theory is that they are the following sons of WILLAIM ODELL of Wharley, a village in the parish of Cranfield:
William bp. 23 Feb 1602/3 (The immigrant)
Richard bp. 2 June 1605
Another important entry is that RICHARD's daughter URSULA was baptized on 24 August 1628. She is believed to be the same URSULA ODELL who married CHRISTOPHER WOOLY in Concord on 26 February 1646/7.
WILLAIM ODELL of Wharley, father of WILLIAM (the immigrant) and RICHARD, was buried in Cranfield on 22 June 1615. We now searched for WILLIAM
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