Genealogy Link

here is a new genealogy link that I was just referred to!! Lots of things to check out!

Virtual Reference Library

happy surfing,

Kim

Continuation of Joseph O'Dell

so I found my cousin Lin, and after some time I found my great grandfather!! It turns out that he had been living about 20 miles from his original village of Temple Grafton. He was predeceased by the woman he had gotten pregnant, her name was Doris. They had children, how many I'm still unsure of. Lin and I have found multiple index listings for children for this couple, but they have different surnames then O'Dell. But at times they are referred to as O'Dell???? It was so confusing. Lin sent out letters to various leads we found. One time after sending out a batch of letters to people she received a phone call telling her to leave things the way they are and not to poke into this any further! We still don't understand exactly Joseph's whole family situation with Doris. But we are not leaving things be, we are going to get to the bottom of this whole mess one way or another!!

tomorrow I will tell you about the interesting things we have found along the way!!

I just wanted to say too, that about a week ago I posted some resources that I have and i'm willing to do look ups for!! This posting has now been moved to the 'archive' section of my blog. So please take a look! Perhaps there is something that one of you could use a look up with. If you do want a look up, please use the 'comment' section of the most recent post, this is located at the end of each individual posting, to ask as I don't always go through my archived posts so I may overlook it!! Also, my contest has really gotten off to a good start, I have over 40 people now entered, so get your name in to me as well!!!

take care
Kim

Joseph O'Dell and Kate (Read) O'Dell
Posted by Hello

Cousin Lin on Vacation
Posted by Hello

Finding Cousin Lin

finding my cousin Lin, was the highlight and still is of my quest for Joseph O'Dell!!!...

as I said earlier I had been searching for Joseph for about two months when I happened to come across Lin's name on some site stating that she too was looking for the same O'Dell's from the same area...So, I immediately fired off a letter by snail mail to her. I sat back and prayed that she would respond. Five days later she emailed me, and we became steadfast cousins every since. Her love for genealogy matched mine. I told her about my dilemma regarding Joseph O'Dell and she immediately said that she too would take up the hunt with me, even though he was not a direct ancestor of her's, and she didn't even know that he had existed!

Well we searched and searched and searched. I have never seen so many roadblocks and deadends in my life!!! After the first year of searching I was all but losing hope! But we carried on....and we found his death listed on an index!!!...She emailed the index to me, and I printed it off and was sitting at the kitchen table looking through all of the death dates for Joseph O'Dell's and came upon his. I froze in my seat, I couldn't believe it!! Then the phone started ringing, I picked it up and sure enough it was my cousin Lin, all the way in England doing the happy dance as I was as well!!!

little did we know that day, that finding him wasn't the end of the mystery surrounding the man!!

tomorrow, I'll tell you all about the sordid story! lol

take care
Kim

Joseph O'Dell continued....

sorry to drop all of you like that for the last couple of days. But Xmas preparations got pretty hectic around here. I hope all of you had a great Christmas!!

anyway...onto Joseph O'Dell...

so after hearing about him at the family reunion, something inside of me clicked! I HAD to find this man! I had no idea how or where to start. My Aunt gave me a little tree that someone unknown had done and that is about all I had to start with. So with the family tree that I was given I headed for the computer. After doing a lot of reading about how to start in genealogy I headed for the IGI. With the tree I had and knowing what area I was looking for I did find some names and dates and was able to piece together a bit more of my tree. But I found no traces of Joseph! I searched and searched, I went down to my local LDS center, and got NOTHING! Yes, I was one frustrated woman! I was finding all sorts of ancestors that I had never heard of, but could not find Joseph. About two months after the start of my love for genealogy, I came across a name that was searching for Odell's in the exact area that I was looking!! This is how I met my cousin Linda!!!

the saga continues tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

let me mention though, that my first contest is going real well! I have 41 people entered already!!! So make sure you get your name to me!!!

happy hunting,
Kim

Finding Joseph O'Dell

my love of genealogy began when I first heard the tale of Joseph Odell, my gt grandfather on my father's side. I was at a family reunion about five years ago when I first heard his name. His story begins in England....

Joseph was married to Kate Read, they lived in Temple Grafton, Warwickshire England. They had three children - Ethel, George (my grandfather) and Arthur. The First World War began and Joseph set off to battle. He never came home...NO, he didn't die in war. While stationed in England he had met a woman, named Doris, and began an affair with her. One night Doris' father showed up on Kate's doorstep telling her that Joseph had gotten his daughter pregnant and that Joseph was going to have to support the child. Ethel recalled listening to her mother cry well into the night. Kate had family in Canada and decided to move with her children there in order to escape this scandal. Kate and her children sailed for Canada and they never heard from Joseph again...

tomorrow I will tell you all about my hunt Joseph O'Dell!

take care
Kim