A life-long resident of Carroll County, John Curtis Odell was a prominent attorney and historian. He was the son of early settlers, James and Sarah Hatfield Odell. John’s father James was a county commissioner, state representative and senator, clerk of Carroll Circuit Court, and one of the founders of the Old Settlers Association.

John Curtis Odell was born December 6, 1838 and died July 6, 1925. He was first married to Euphemia A. Noland in 1865, and she died October 18, 1866. He then married her sister Ruth Elizabeth Noland who lived September 27, 1840 until September 14, 1923. Their children were Charles Noland Odell, November 30, 1875-May 7, 1970, restaurant and hotel manager, and Ruth Josephine Odell, a school teacher who lived July 24, 1882-May 2, 1956. Neither was ever married. Twins Mary H. and Willie B. were born and died in 1874.

In addition to following the legal profession, John Odell was for forty years the secretary of the Old Settlers Association and recorded a significant amount of local history. He was for many years vice president of the Carroll County Historical Society. In 1916 he published the History of Carroll County, Indiana: Its People, Industries and Institutions, With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families. The volume was published by B. F. Bowen & Co. in Indianapolis, and is comprised of 679 pages of history and biography.

Correspondence

The following letters relate to an article published by Odell in The Madisonian regarding a trip made to Montana in 1865 (see "Trip to the Intermountain Country..." above.)

Family Histories