Did Rebecca (Brown) Odell even exist?

Question

Hello fellow WikiTreers!

I've been looking into Rebecca Brown's profile, which apparently was created based on an article about a witch trial that took place in Bridgeport, Connecticut Colony in 1653. It just so happens that the midwife who examined the supposed witch (Goody Knapp) and testified in the trial seems to be only referred to as "Goody Odell" or Goodwife Odell. I haven't read any primary sources on it, only articles about the trial. The surname would imply she was William Odell's wife, as their daughter Rebecca Odell, born in 1642, would be too young to be a midwife.

Despite the fact that several genealogies, both printed and online, state that Rebecca Brown was William Odell's wife there is simply no hard evidence to support that. There are, as happens most of the time, several men by the name William Odell in England being born around 1600. None of them seem to have married a woman named Rebecca Brown. Most of them are still having children in England in the 1640s, which would, I believe, exclude them from our selection of eligible candidates for the immigrant William Odell. Our William Odell seems to have arrived in new England around 1639.

Please check some of my notes on available records for some of them: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Research_Notes_for_the_Odell_Family

From what I can see, the William Odell who was born in Cranfield would be our best bet. And he did marry Agnes Franklyn, who Torrey listed as his wife, although you can tell he was uncertain "ODLE, William & Agnes?/Rebecca FRANKLYN" (https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/95078?token=YmcmLWVMuKXzVdP319MoCJLJfDkPYjCvdyGxVQ6Me%2BY%3D).

I would love to hear from someone with some knowledge on this couple. If Goody Odell is Agnes Odell, then our William Odell was born in Cranfield. So should Rebecca become Agnes? Or should we just go with unknown Odell for the wife?

I really feel like I'm walking on quick sand here, even more than usual.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one.

Rebecca's profile: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brown-18294

William's profile: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Odell-2266

Space page: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Research_Notes_for_the_Odell_Family

Thanks,

Marcia

Comments

Hello, 

I don’t know if Bedfordshire wills are available to view at any of the big sites, but have you already eliminated the William Odell with a 1647 will as the husband of Agnes? 

http://bedsarchivescat.bedford.gov.uk/Details/archive/110599821

There seem to be so many Williams round & about this area & timeframe that it looks like a bit of a minefield to find him, let alone his wife!

A link to the American Genealogist Vol 21, discussion on Odell by Jacobus Lines, which you are obviously aware of, but doesn’t seem to be on William’s profile. 

It might help someone else have a brainwave. (Maybe someone from one of the connected families.)

https://archive.org/details/sim_american-genealogist_1944-07_21_1/page/68/mode/2up?

 Good luck! 

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Thank you! Yes, definitely too many Williams! At this point I haven't eliminated anyone. Many of the baptism entries list only the father, so given the name's popularity we could always have more than one William Odell in any given village. I will try to find his will. That might answer some basic questions such as who his wife was after all. I will also try to get a hold of the Cranfield will.

Thnaks for your help!

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WeRelate had a pretty good summary of the articles on his origins and marriages:

https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:William_Odell_(1)

It doesn't sound like there's any known record naming William Odell's wife other than "Goody Odell."  The other possibilities at least align with a theory/records.

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Thank you! That has been my conclusion as well. I read his will yesterday on ancestry and she was not mentioned, which usually means she was dead by then. So I checked burial records for CT and specifically for Fairfield and found nothing. But his death wasn't there either, so I guess their records were far from acurate. The Brown family also had no Rebecca as far as I can tell. Sounds like she was made up, I'd be curious to learn what that was based on.

Answer 1

I have always had her listed as unknown, thanks for noting this. Nothing names her in in Jacobus' Families of Old Fairfield, which is never a good sign, and I have never been able to find William Odell's wife in my searching....

Comments

Well, there are marriage records for quite a few of the individuals named William Odell. Initially I was betting on the one from Cranfield, who married Agnes Franckyn in 1623, but it seems a William Odell died in 1647 in Cranfield. So my guess is the immigrant William Odell was not the one from Cranfield. If he was the one from Fulbourn, he married Elizabeth Sier. Now, if she was Goody Odell or not is another story. I know some genealogists think the immigrant was the William Odell from Newport Pagnell. That nevertheless looks highly unlikely, as the latter was having children in England at least until 1647 and our William was already in Massachusetts in 1639, when James Odell is baptized. The dates would indicate the Fulbourn candidate as the only one viable so far. He and Elizabeth have their last child in England in 1637, so the timing would work. I'm planning on going to an FHC to take a look at what they have available on them.

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Has anyone made any progress on William Odell's wife or origin?  I long ago started my genealogy with some great, some good, and some poor sources.  I am trying to update and get rid of connections not based on legit sources.  I have Rebecca Brown as William's wife, but not sure where I got it.  It sounds like this is speculative at best.  Has anyone made any progress on this?

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Hey Chris! It's been a while. So let me take another look at the profiles and I'll let you know.

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Unfortunately, it seems there was no progress. I believe the information currently on the profiles and the free space reflect what I was able to find at the time. If I remember well, I didn't do a deep dive on this family. I came across one of their profiles while working on the feed and they caught my interest. I remember lots of Odells in England and after looking at dozens of records I still couldn't find the wife's name.