Odell, Jonathan

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Alfred G. Bailey, “ODELL, JONATHAN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/odell_jonathan_5E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Church of England clergyman, office holder, and poet; b. 25 Sept. 1737 in Newark, N.J., son of John Odell, a joiner, and Temperance Dickinson; m. 6 May 1772 Anne De Cou in Burlington, N.J., and they had four children; d. 25 Nov. 1818 in Fredericton, N.B.
    • From the outset of the agitation over imperial taxation Odell regretted the action of the British government and maintained that the rights of the colonies should be clearly defined. He was confident that justice could be obtained by peaceful means and set his face steadfastly against sedition and rebellion.
    • Not long after the outbreak of hostilities his true sentiments became known throughout New Jersey as a result of the interception of two of his letters. 
    • In 1777 he was appointed by Sir William Howe, the commander-in-chief of the British forces, as superintendent of the printing office and of periodical publications in Philadelphia, Pa. Almost by chance he became involved in the Arnold–André affair.
    • On hearing the news Sir Henry Clinton, the commander-in-chief, and John André, Clinton’s aide-de-camp, could scarcely believe their ears, but they decided to make cautious and hesitant responses to Arnold’s overtures. Odell coded and decoded the messages in his house in Wall Street, New York, which became the terminus of this correspondence. It had already lasted some months when Arnold broke it off late in the summer of 1779, partly through fear of detection but mostly because he felt the British authorities did not sufficiently value his proposed services. When negotiations were resumed in the summer of 1780 they eventuated in Arnold’s defection and André’s capture and execution as a spy on the orders of George Washington.
    • He had apparently hoped at one point to be named bishop of Nova Scotia or New York; however, when in the summer of 1784 Carleton’s brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Carleton, accepted the governorship of the new, largely loyalist province, Odell was appointed secretary, registrar, and clerk of the Council at a salary of £1,000 per annum.
  • Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=6285
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61652218/jonathan-odell