Acknowledgments

       Several years ago, I started researching my Odom history. I knew very little other than my maternal grandmother was an Odom and that she had a brother by the name of Lemuel A. Odom. I knew Uncle Lem (great uncle) because I had some correspondence with him shortly before he died in 1964 at the age of 89. My mother knew that Lem's father was Richmond Nollie Odom.
      I knew he lived in Daytona Beach, Florida and I visited the city in 1989 to see if I could find any information there. Unfortunately, there were no leads and I shelved the project. During 1999, I thought I would try to do some searching on the Internet, and finally found a reference to Richmond Nollie Odom in a family page set up by Bruce Campbell of Houston.
      I wrote to Bruce and he directed me to Jimmy Ray & Kathy Odom of Palestine and Karen Whitehead of Humble, Texas, both of whom were more up to date on the family history. Kathy and Karen were of immense help to me in locating more information and other "cousins." They were able to provide a number of letters written by Uncle Lem Odom to members of his family which included a great deal of family history.
       Linda McCanlies Sykes of Houston gave me considerable information on the Campbell side of the family (Richmond was married to Peggy Campbell.) Dorothy Odom Bruce of Dallas had done extensive & comprehensive research on the Odom family of which she is a member. She had participated in the publication of the Cherokee County History published in 1986, which contained biographical information on many of the Odom's. Some of that information is included on this web site.
      Others who contributed were my direct cousins, LaVonna Mortensen of Grass Valley, California and JoAnn Mortensen of LaHabra, California. They contributed letters from Uncle Lem that none of the rest of us knew existed. There are numerous other contributors including Michelle King of Victoria, Texas, Margaret Martinez of Charlotte, North Carolina, Mary Douglass, of Kansas, Kim Chance, Texas, Marvin Owens Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Helen & Eddie Odom of West Monroe, Louisiana.
      This list is not complete and I apologize to any member of the family who has contributed information and who is not listed above.
My sincere thanks!

Charles H. Smith - November 9, 2001