Caleb O'DELL

                   FROM HOLSTON PASTFINDER DEC 1983 - "WILLIAM O'DELL WAS ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF THIS SECTION OF THE COUNTRY.  HE EMIGRATED FROM SHENANDOAH COUNTY, VA. TO THE AREA THAT IS PRESENTLY SULLIVAN COUNTY.  THE LAND WAS THEN A PART OF NORTH CAROLINA.  THE COUNTY WAS AN "ALMOST UNBROKEN WILDERNESS, INHABITED ONLY BY WANDERING TRIBES OF INDIANS, WHO SUBSISTED MAINLY BY HUNTING AND FISHING." DURING THE FIRST SIX MONTHS AFTER HIS ARRIVAL, O'DELL SPOKE TO ONLY TWO WHITE MEN WHOSE NAMES WERE HUTTON.  ONE OF THESE TWO MEN WAS KILLED BY INDIANS SOON AFTER THEIR MEETING WITH O'DELL.  DURING THIS PERIOD, O'DELL SUBSISTED ON WILD GAME, AND HE HAD NO BREAD OR SALT TO EAT.  HE CULTIVATED HIS FIRST CROPS WITH A RIFLE CLOSE AT HAND BECAUSE OF THE THREAT OF INDIAN ATTACKS.  O'DELL MARRIED MARTHA MORRELL...SOON AFTER HIS ARRIVAL IN THIS SECTION.  AFTER THEIR MARRIAGE, THE COUPLE RELOCATED TO PRESENT-DAY WASHINGTON COUNTY ALONG BUFFALO CREEK NEAR THE FORMER HOME ON LANDON C. HAYNES.  ABOUT 1790 THE INDIANS KILLED TWO OF O'DELL'S BROTHERS, NEHEMIAH AND SIMON, WHILE THE FAMILY RESIDED ON BUFFALO CREEK.  WILLIAM O'DELL RETURNED TO THE HICKORY TREE AREA OF SULLIVAN COUNTY AND SETTLED ON THE SOUTH FORK OF THE HOLSTON RIVER NEAR BUSHONG'S FORGE NEAR THE FORMER HOME OF STEPHEN MORTON. "  MRS. LUCILE EARLY, BLUFF CITY, IS THE SOURCE OF SOME INFORMATION CONCERNING DATES OF DEATHS AND BIRTHS INLCUDED HERE.

FROM "HISTORIC SITES OF SULLIVAN COUNTY" 1980 EDITION - "ODELL HOUSE" "THE WILLIAM ODELL HOUSE, ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLES OF ORIGINAL LOG-CABIN ARCHITECTURE IN THE COUNTY, IS LOCATED ON KELLER'S CREEK, HICKORY TREE, 3RD CIVIL DISTRICT, SULLIVAN COUNTY, AND IS OWNED BY MR. AND MRS. CLAUDE VANCE.  NO ONE LIVES IN THE HOUSE AT THE PRESENT TIME BUT THE LAND IS FARMED BY MR. VANCE, HUSBAND OF BLANCHE ODELL VANCE.
       THE HOUSE IS A DOUBLE LOG-PEN HOUSE, THE UPPER AND LOWER SECTIONS, WITH THE DOG-TROT BETWEEN, BEING BUILD AT DIFFERENT TIMES.  THE UPPER HOUSE IS KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN OCCUPIED IN 1809, THE DEED HAVING BEEN RECORDED IN 1805.  THERE HAVE BEEN MINOR ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS.  SOME CLAPBOARD IS ON A SMALL UPPER AREA UNDER THE EAVES, THE BIG FIREPLACE THAT BURNED 4-FOOT LOGS AND THE STONE CHIMNEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE UPPER HOUSE, AND THE LIMESTONE HEARTH IN THE LOWER HOUSE COVERED OVER WITH CEMENT.  THE SIDE-POCKET KITCHEN ON THE BACK WAS LATER REMODELED INTO AN ELL. THE LONG FRONT PORCH IS VERY OLD BUT WAS ADDED AFTER THE DOG-TROT HAD BEEN ENCLOSED BETWEEN THE UPPER AND LOWER HOUSES.
       THOMAS ODELL, SON OF WILLIAM ODELL, INHERITED THIS 100 ACRES....
       BESIDES THE LOG HOUSE BUILT BY THE FIRST WILLIAM ODELL, THERE IS A SMOKE-HOUSE AND A CORN-CRIB, BOTH OF LOG CONSTRUCTION.  A MOST INTERESTING OAK TREE STILL GROWS IN THE FRONT YARD.  IT IS VERY, VERY OLD AND VERY, VERY BIG. IT IS HOLLOW, AND FAMILY TRADITION TELLS US THAT INDIANS, VISITING, WOULD NOT SLEEP IN THE HOUSE, BUT SLEPT IN THE HOLLOW TREE.  MRS. VANCE REMEMBERS DUCKS BEING RAISED IN THE TREE, AND MOST FONDLY REMEMBERS HAVING IT FOR A DOLL HOUSE WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL.  WILLIAM AND MARTH ODELL ARE THE PROGENITORS OF MANY EDUCATIORS, A GREAT NUMBER OF THEM IN THE SCHOOLS OF SULLIVAN COUNTY TODAY."

FROM A 1992 LETTER FROM WILMA SMITH " THIS IS INCORRECT.  SADLY THIS LOG HOUSE IS BEING TORN DOWN. I TRIED TO BUY IT.  IT WAS BUILT 1809 BY MY ANCESTOR THOMAS ODELL, SON OF WILLIAM AND MARTHA (MORRELL) O'DELL."
                  

                   BIRTH/DEATH FROM ANCESTOR LADDER OF MARY CATHERINE MORRELL PEDIGREE CHART OF KAREN MORRELL LISTS BIRTH AS 29 SEPT 1753
                  

                   HOLSTON PASTFINDER DEC 1983 - ABOUT 1790 HE WAS KILLED BY INDIANS WHILE THE FAMILY LIVED ON BUFFALO CREEK.
                  

                   HOLSTON PASTFINDER DEC 1983 - ABOUT 1790 HE WAS KILLED BY INDIANS WHILE THE FAMILY LIVED ON BUFFALO CREEK.