ODUM

My interest in Odum genealogy began with the discovery that my g-g-grandfather's sister, Mary Thomas, married James Odum in Bulloch County, Georgia in 1817. It was just one of those serendipitous deeds that made the connection when Isham B. Thomas deeded land to Mary Odum in 1835 and identified her as his sister. I had been researching my Thomas line through Isham B. Thomas of Bulloch County and had no success in identifying his parents or siblings. After finding the deed, I began my research of Mary Thomas Odum's family in hopes of uncovering clues to Isham's and Mary's parents and siblings. So far, clues are all I have in that area and proof remains elusive. However, I uncovered information on the Odum family that will hopefully be of use to other researchers.

Early Georgia census records immediately led to a bit of confusion regarding James and Mary Odum's family. James disappeared from the census records after 1820 but additional children kept appearing in Mary Odum's household on the two subsequent censuses. Digging into other records yielded no definitive evidence, but a probable explanation was found. It also turned out that the Bulloch County Thomas families and the Odums were more closely involved with the Kicklighter family there than previously thought.

Godfrey Odum, one of Mary's children, was another case where it was impossible to reconcile the parentage of numerous children shown on the census records with those shown on other sources. Fortunately, court records filed after Godfrey's death resolved the matter of the extraneous children and clearly identified their relationships and parentage. Those records are included in the material on this site.

When the Odum children left Bulloch County, they migrated further south to Wayne County, Georgia, and to Bradford and Volusia Counties in Florida. Information is provided tracking them for two or three generations. Unfortunately, more recent data has to be omitted for security reasons.

The links in the menu are to James Odum and Mary Thomas and their children. Information regarding each of these familes and their descendants is included in those respective pages.

The information contained on this site is the best I have available to date. It is always subject to revision and change due to my mistakes, the mistakes of others, or just simply conflicting records. I welcome all comments, suggesions and corrections and may be contacted through the link on the left.

You can return to this page anytime by clicking the Odum link on the top menu.