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Note: Below are musings of mine along with some evidence I have turned up if efforts to pin down who Michael W. Odom was, where he lived, and where he died. The dates indicate when I found the evidence presented. As will be seen, the evidence disproves my belief that he did not go to Madison County, MS.
10/21/2001 Michael Wellington Odom is supposed to be the ancestor of those of us descended from the four Odom brothers who settled in Union Parish, LA, in the 1840s. Sometimes I have doubts. I am particularly skeptical that he died in Madison County, MS, in 1842. He appears to be living with his sister, Levica Odom Matheny, in the 1860 Barnwell, SC, census. He is 60 years old and his occupation is millwright.
1/18/2002 There is a Michael Odom in the 1850 Barnwell census. He is 52 years old and his occupation is mechanic. He is living with a 32 year old man named Nulin? Roney who is a fisherman. These occupations of Michael's support the story of his work on a railroad and tend to cast doubts on the Mississippi sojourn.
5/15/02 More doubts. There are several entries for Michael W. Odom found on the Yawn-L Archives page posted by Gene Jeffries. Here they are:
27 Jan 1836 - Rec'd payment by note from Michael Odom for razor strap, buttons, gingham, calico, etc. $8.00. (Reverse) By January next promise to pay Bryant for value rec'd June 17, 1836. Youn Family Papers 4 of 10, http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/YAWN/1998-04/0891968268
23 Apr 1841 - Summons from Magistrate J. H. Axson to Constable Elemuel Gibson to have Odom and Yon to appear at the Magistrate's home on Beaver Creek on the 2nd Saturday in May. Gedeon Hutto complained that Michael W. Odom with Muke Yon were indebted to him for $7.75. The joint note was dated October 18, 1838. /s/ John H. Axson. (Reverse) G. Hutto vs M. W. Odom & Muke Yon. [Muke Yon was Michael W. Odom's brother-in-law. He married Michael's sister Nancy Ann.] Youn Family Papers 4 of 10, http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/YAWN/1998-04/0891968268
22 May 1841 - Muke Yon paid for pocket knife, coffee, sugar, etc. Bought from Odom & Matheney for W. J. Lasstrur on March 12, 1840. [Reverse] Muke Yon $5.88. [24 Sep 1841 note same page] Youn Family Papers 4 of 10, http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/YAWN/1998-04/0891968268
12 Apr 1843 - Muke A. Yon, Admr. paid $20.00 from the estate of Wm. Yon to Odom & Stephens for Eilliland Lou and Howell. /s/ Wm. H. Thomson, Pluff Atty. (Same page as 5 May 1843 note)
[This may mean he didn't died in Madison County, MS, in 1842.] Youn Family Papers 5 of 10, http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/YAWN/1998-04/0892083143
1845 - Paid $7.06 to M. W. Odom by Mr. M. A. Yon for six ploughs, etc. (Same page as 10 Nov 1845 note)
[This clearly means he didn't die in Madison County, MS, in 1842.] Youn Family Papers 5 of 10, http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/YAWN/1998-04/0892083143
6/7/2002 M. W. Odom is among several people who lost an appeal to road commissioners of Orangeburg County, SC, on April 6. 1840. Results of decision not stated but apparently they had to supply labor. Some of those named with M. W. Odom are found in the 1840 census of Orangeburg County as is Muke A. Yon. M. W. Odom is not in that census. Source: Daniel Marchant Culler, Orangeburgh District: 1768-1868, History and Records, The Reprint Company, Publisher, Spartanburg, SC, 1995, p. 460.
7/29/2002 My brother Bob and I were in the Madison County, MS, courthouse today. Here are the findings that made us so excited and which severely challenged my skepticism that Michael Odom went to Mississippi. It is practically impossible to deny that he went although his death there is still much in doubt, in my mind, and will be impossible to prove by any official records. Such records were not kept in MS until 1912.
We found land transactions: John Odom bought 120 acres from Joseph B. and Frances Trotter on July 2, 1838. On Dec. 4, 1839, John Odom and wife Elizabeth sold this same land to Ludwell W. Smith. We didn't know that John Odom was ever in Madison County. Apparently he sold out and went to Union Parish where he and his family are listed in the 1840 census.
Emanuel Odom bought 150 acres from Thomas and Mary Grafton on May 8, 1840 for $1500. Emanuel and Sarah Grafton sold this same land and two elderly slaves to James M. Grafton on Feb. 25, 1843 for about half what he paid for the land. Although Emanuel is almost certainly not a brother, but that can't be entirely ruled out since dates on tombstones can be wrong, this is interesting.
Luke W. Smith gave 280 acres to his mother, Ann Smith, for love and affection, on Jan. 25, 1885. Ann Smith, ne Odom, married Ludwell Smith. Our information that she died in 1870 is wrong. Luke also gave and/or sold land to his daughter Fannie P. Smith.
William E. Council and Mrs. Annie Smith borrowed money on her property in 1877 to make a crop. If this is Ann Odom Smith she is supposed to be the sister of Serena Odom who married William E. Council.
So, we have all these people who we have suspected of being brothers and sisters actually in Madison County interacting with each other. There was also a William Odom and wife Jane who I need to research a little to determine if he is a possible son of Michael's.
Speaking of Michael Odom, here is the blockbuster news from the trip! We went to the state archives in Jackson because I wanted to see what could be gleaned about the Michael Odom of Madison county that ancestry.com says was listed in the 1841 Mississippi state census. Here is what that census has:
Michael Odom 4 males 3 females 1 voter
Pinckney Odom 1 male 1 voter
Ludwell Smith 2 males 1 female 1 voter
They are listed on consecutive lines indicating they lived next to each other. We didn't know Pinckney was in Madison County, either. This is the first census I have found him listed in. I think it is reasonably safe to say that Bettie Kroll Odom's suspicions are born out--that this is the Michael Odom of Barnwell county who had about 12 kids. We still don't know all their names but it looks like the whole clan went to Madison County, MS
1/1/2003 According to Kathy Eubank, a resident of MS and descendant of Michael's daughter Mary Albany Odom (married Herman Cain Black in Madison County, MS) Mary's father was named Mike. She also knows of a brother of Mary's named Chesley Duncan Odom who lived in Simpson County, MS. He married Irene Beasley Lane Walker. According to the 1870 Simpson County census he was a 47 year old farmer.
3/18/2003 I made it to back to Canton, MS today. I found the court document concluding a sheriff's sale of some of Michael Odom's property that occurred in 1840. The sale was the result of a suit that he lost. The record of that suit, the people in the clerk's office said, was either lost, destroyed, or in a warehouse somewhere so I don't know what the original dispute was about. The strange thing about it is that there is no record that Michael Odom ever bought any property in Madison County. I have checked here in Texas about these things and there is a possibility that he had a mechanics lien on the property of someone he did work for then got sued and the property was sold to recover the judgement against him. The judgement against him was for more than $1300. There is no reference to anything like that in the document I found so it is just speculation. It could be really complicated and doesn't make sense to me.
I wanted to check the tax rolls but there was a large blank space in their volumes from 1825-1848. However, I stopped by the state archives in Jackson and hit some pretty interesting pay dirt. Since I doubt that Michael died in 1842 in Madison County, what I found in Jackson strengthens my doubts immensely. Michael was in the 1840 Federal census and the 1841 state census. He was also in the 1845 state census with two females in his household! Not only that but: he was on the 1840, 1841, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1848, and 1849 Madison County tax rolls! The years missing may be because I ran the microfilm too fast, I was there late in the day and they started blinking the lights for quitting time. In addition his sons Jesse and Pinkney were on the 1842 tax rolls and Jesse was on the 1845 state census. Emanuel (a possible son) was the first on the tax roll in 1839 and also 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1844. On the 1841 roll Michael had 200 acres worth $600. That is the same amount of land that was sold to satisfy the judgement against him. That means he either had 400 acres or the 1841list was for property owned in 1840. In most of the other years I only found him on the personal property rolls with one clock worth $15. However in 1848 he had two slaves, the clock and no free whites 21-50 years old. In 1849 all the boxes for him were blank.
Another son, John, was in Madison County but never made it on the tax rolls. However, he bought land in Madison County in 1838 and sold it to Ludwell Smith in 1839. He appears on the 1840 Union Parish, LA census, as does a 16? year old Mikel Odom. The other two sons recorded in Madison County, Jesse and Pinckney, also went to Union Parish as did a fourth son, Benjamin W. Odom. B. W. was probably included in Michael's household in the 1840 census but was probably in LA by the 1845 state census. I speculate that Mary Albany and Serena were the two females living with Michael in the 1845 census.
I also doubt that Michael was a farmer. The 200 acres might contradict that but he could have had it through a lien or something. Michael Odom in the 1850 Barnwell, SC census is listed as a mechanic and Michael W. Odom in the 1860 Barnwell census is listed as a millwright. I guess he could have had a couple of slaves to help him. It would be interesting to find out about his acquisition of the slaves.
I also copied marriage licenses for Ludwell Smith and Ann Odom, William E. Council and Serena Odom, Emanuel Odom and Sarah Grafton. I did not find a license for Herman Black and Mary Albany Odom.
I'm not sure what this information about Michael Odom proves. There is a possibility Michael W. had a son named Michael (who could be the one in Union Parish in 1840) and he is the one in the records after 1842. However, the fact that Michael W. Odom appears in the 1860 Barnwell census in the household of his sister Levica Odom Matheny makes me think that what I found Tuesday is our Michael W. Odom.
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