Jonathan Odell Papers

MC300-MS14 York-Sunbury Historical Society Collection Description (page 128)

If you are interested in any of these files then please contact the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.

“Jonathan Odell was born in Newark, New Jersey, September 25, 1737.  He studied medicine and was a graduate of Nassau Hall (now Princeton University).  He served as a surgeon in the British Army until 1764 when he went to England to study theology.  In 1766, he was ordained as a deacon, and went to Vermont in 1767 as a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.  He served as minister of St. Mary’s Church in Burlington, Vermont.  In 1772, he married Ann de Cou and in 1774 was made a member of the New Jersey medical society.

 At the outbreak of the American Revolution, Odell remained loyal to Britain, and was proscribed by the rebels.  In 1776 when British troops were defeated in Burlington by the rebels, Odell retreated with them and eventually went to New York.  He served as a Chaplain to a Loyalist Regiment of the King’s American Dragoons.  When the Peace Treaty was signed in 1783, he went to England with his family and served as private secretary to Sir Guy Carleton.

Odell was well known for his satirical, anti-revolutionary poetry, and it has been said that “no pen was dipped in more bitter gall than the Odell’s”.  He took an active part in the Loyalist cause as a “doctor, clergyman, poet, soldier, and spy”.  As a reward for his loyalty, he was appointed Provincial Secretary, Registrar, and Clerk of the Council of New Brunswick.  He came to the province with Governor Thomas Carleton (brother of Sir Guy) and from the beginning was a member of the Council.

Odell died in 1818, and left one son, William Franklin Odell, who also served as Provincial Secretary for the province.

This series dates from 1784 to 1829, and is largely composed of correspondence regarding personal business dealings.  Researchers should note that the Odell papers can be found in the Harriet Irving Library at the University of New Brunswick.  This series measures 1 centimeter.”

1  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to “My Dear Nancy” concerning conflict at the vestry; London, July 5, 1784.

2  Copy of Power of Attorney from Jonathan and Anne Odell of Saint John to Daniel Ellis, Burlington, and Isaac Delow, Trenton; September 6, 1785.

3  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to Daniel Ellis regarding property in Burlington; Fredericton, May 3, 1790.

4  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to Daniel Ellis regarding business matter mentioning Fitch and Nehemiah Rogers, Benjamin Swett and Thomas Emley; Fredericton, December 24, 1790.

5  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to Daniel Ellis regarding business matters; Fredericton, June 25, 1791.

6  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to Daniel Ellis regarding payment to Rogers Company; Fredericton, April 19,1793.

7  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to Daniel Ellis concerning the prospective sale of the farm at Schooley’s Mountain, Fredericton, June 22, 1793.

8  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to Daniel Ellis regarding business matters; Fredericton, March 29, 1794.

9  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to Hon. James Kinsey ccepting his offer for his house and lot in Burlington; Fredericton, March 27, 1800.

10  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to Hon. James Kinsey conveying a deed; Fredericton, July 24, 1800.

11  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to The Rev. Dr. Wharton concerning the business affairs with James Kinsey; Fredericton, April 11, 1803.

12  Copy of letter from Jonathan Odell to the Rev. Dr. Wharton regarding payments; Fredericton, August 15, 1803.

13  Copy of statement of funds due from the estate of James Kinsey to Jonathan Odell; July 13, 1803.

14  Copy of biographical sketch of Jonathan Odell written in 1929.

Course on the History of the Loyalists

COURSE ON THE HISTORY OF THE LOYALISTS IN THE MARITIMES AND UPPER CANADA TO BE OFFERED AT UNB WINTER 2010 

HISTORY 3403: THE LOYALISTS

DR BONNIE HUSKINS

UNB FREDERICTON

MONDAYS 7-9:50

WINTER 2010 

For more information, contact the history department at the University of New Brunswick

Bonnie Huskins has always had a profound passion for local history. She credits this interest to three variables: i) growing up in Saint John, New Brunswick, where history is literally embedded in the landscape; ii) having a grandmother who recorded community and family history by keeping a daily diary for 47 years; and iii) having supportive parents who realized the importance of an advanced education. Huskins followed her interest in the history of Atlantic Canada by obtaining a PhD from Dalhousie University in 1992.

She taught Canadian history for approximately 12 years at the University College of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, and then in 2004, relocated back to the Maritime region for personal and professional reasons. Since then she has been teaching at the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton and Saint John campuses), as well as Saint Thomas University. Her courses have included many with a regional focus, including the history of Atlantic Canada, the history of New Brunswick, and the history of the Loyalists in the Maritimes.

Huskins` research interests include working with diaries: she is currently working on a manuscript based on her grandmothers` diaries and is planning to examine the diaries and correspondences of many of the local Loyalists in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Huskins` most recent research project analyzes the significance of `social occasions`(i.e., balls, banquets, frolics, parades, and so on) for the first two generations of Loyalist families in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Heritage Audio Tours of Fredericton

This year Fredericton Heritage Trust has created four bilingual heritage walking tours of Fredericton that you can download onto an mp3 player.  Two for the Northside and two for the Southside they introduce the listener to important and interesting building in Devon, Marysville and downtown Fredericton’s west and east ends.  

Download the tours from the Fredericton Heritage Trust website or acquired a copy at the Fredericton Public Library on Carleton Street or the Nashwaaksis Public-School Library on Fulton Avenue.  The libraries provide maps or you can download a copy of the maps from the website. 

These look great and are definately worth trying!

Marysville Heritage Journal (September 2009, Volume One)

The First Edition of the Marysville Heritage Journal

After the last “Special Marysville Edition” of the Officers’ Quarters the Marysville Heritage Committee decided to produce their own similar magazine and Fred White of the York Sunbury Historical Society assisted them. Copies are available for $10 each at the Marysville Irving or at the Marysville Pharmacy.

The new publication contains articles about some of Marysville’s notable residents such as Olga Pond, Bill LaPointe, Nate Merrill and Clifton Hanson. It gives a history of some of the fires in Marysville such as the water tower in 1976 and the school in 1977. It finishes with school days, oil prospecting, fossils and an update on the 2009 D. Murray Young Heritage Award. I’m sure anyone interested in Marysville’s heritage will read it from cover to cover!  A complete list of contents is posted here.

~ Ruth

ArachNO- MORE!

ArachNO- MORE!

The classic nursery rhyme that has given spiders the bad press of scaring “Little Miss Muffet” away  has certainly come into the minds of our staff here at the museum, and the spiders are doing just that!

Taken from Google Images.

As we have discovered here at the York Sunbury Museum, sometimes there are often tasks labelled in the job description as “and other jobs specified by manager”.  Cleaning spider webs and nest are one of those jobs.  On Wednesday July 22, the staff of the museum, everyone included, put in a great deal of time in preparation for parties and events at the museum by removing everything that was spider- related.  The building being the 150 plus years that it is, makes for a great spot for spiders to make their nests and live.  Over half of our staff, terrified of spiders, managed to rid of a great percentage of the spiders and nests that lurked on the outside of the museum.  Although having spiders around are great for keeping away the bugs that would destroy our collections and artefacts, the staff finds them a bit of a nuisance.  These 8 legged creatures have certainly made their presence known, and we are taking action! 

Ruth, our Manager, got her hands dirty more than any of us and ended up with a large spider bite on her neck.  She came into the office covered in dust, web and everything else that comes with cleaning an old building.   All of our staff sat and wiggled for hours after the ordeal as we thought of webs and spiders being on us and a psychological discomfort seemed to get us all. Just the thought of that day makes the staff crawl with disgust! Though spiders are a natural part of being outdoors, we need to get rid of them.

 Needless to say the museum no longer has spiders and our staff has become fearless spider killers!  Everyone is a little less of an arachnophobe now that we have battled them off by hand and broom.   Just to be sure we also called an exterminator to get those ones that scurried away on us only to haunt the staff with their random appearances!  

Alisha