Odom, Isaac

Submitted by Mike Miller, Feb. 1999
Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 289-290. Published by the Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892.

The prominent and much esteemed citizen, Isaac Odom, farmer, Grangerville, La., now residing eighteen miles southwest of Greensburg, was originally from the Palmetto state, born December, 1824. He is a son of Thomas and Mercy (Doughty) Odom, and the grandson of Jacob Odom, of North Carolina. His maternal grandfather, Levy Doughty, was a native of South Carolina.

The parents were born in North Carolina and South Carolina and were of Irish and English descent respectively. Their family consisted of eleven children of whom Isaac Odom was the sixth son and seventh child. The latter was educated in the common schools of South Carolina and followed farming in that state until 1848, when he moved to Louisiana, settling in East Feliciana parish.

He was married in South Carolina in 1847 to Miss Zylphia E. Stanley, a native of Alabama, and the daughter of James Stanley, of South Carolina. The latter was a descendant of the Stanleys who fled to this country and settled in the Palmetto state after the fall of the Cavaliers and the predominance of Cromwell of England.

To Mr. and Mrs. Odom were born twelve children, eight of whom lived to be grown: Joseph B. (deceased); James M.; Benjamin E. (deceased); Isaac L.; Preston P. (deceased); William H. H.; Cebelle E. (deceased); Ella C. (deceased); Thomas B.; Adella, and two infants died unnamed.

In 1849 Mr. Odom moved from East Feliciana parish, La., to St. Helena parish and settled on his present property, where he has since remained. Mrs. Odom, who was an exemplary member of the Baptist church, died on the 12th of December, 1890. She was born March 15,1829.

Mr. Odom has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1860 and is a master Mason. He is a member of the Baptist church as are three of the children. Mr. Odom owns about 1,000 acres of land and has about 150 acres under cultivation. He is a public-spirited citizen and is a patron of education and all worthy enterprises.

His son, Isaac L., was educated in St. Helena parish and is now engaged in farming and merchandising there. He also conducts the postoffice at the store known as Dennis' Mills, and is a wide-awake and enterprising young man.

Mr. Odom's daughter, Adella, graduated at Gillsburg college, Mississippi, in June, 1885, and his son, Thomas B., who also attended the same school, is now located in Livingston parish and is practicing medicine at Clio. The remainder of the children all have good English educations and reside in Louisiana.