I feel very blessed to have made contact with Sarah who has given me valuable information about John Conway Odell and his son Elias Abraham Odell. Here is a picture of John Conway Odell.
John Conway Odell
It is difficult to see, but it looks like John is wearing a Union soldier's uniform. The Odell family is a tragic example of the impact of the Civil War on families in Missouri. John joined the Union cause and Martin joined the Confederate cause. John fought nearly the entire 5 years of the war and was wounded in the arm and discharged a few months before the war ended. He never fully recovered and was never able to do much physical work. Martin on the other hand left his farm in Missouri and went to Pocahontas, Arkansas to enlist in September 1861. In January 1862 he is listed as "died". He was undoubtedly a victim of any one of the many diseases prevalent along the banks of the Black River. We do not know where he is buried or anything else.
The following is from email correspondence with Sarah.
"My Grandpa (Paul O'Dell) and Great-grandpa (Elias Abraham Odell) built a cabin near Eminence, Missouri (I attached a picture of it) and I just wondered if maybe that was it. Nobody still living knows exactly where it was. I'm also attaching a the first page of a short autobiography paper my grandpa wrote. It has a brief mention of our common ancestor, so you might find it interesting."
The following is a continuation of the same letter authored by Paul. But I interject here so you know that the yellow highlight is speaking of John Odell, the father of John C Odell and Martin Odell.
John Conway Odell had a son named Elias Abraham Odell. Sarah provided me with a copy of an autobiography written by Elias that I found extremely interesting and a picture of a cabin built by Elias and Paul.
Elias Abraham Odell's handwritten autobiograph is next followed by a typed transcription.
A Typed transcription of the above hand written autobiography follows:
