JACKSON COLLEGE CEMETERY-MAURY COUNTY TENNESSEE-SPRING HILL

The John Odil family memorial features the inscription of ten members of the John Odil family who departed this life beginning in 1843 and then son William died in 1845 and then the other eight died during 1853 or 1854. This is an updated photo of the stone on 29 Nov 2005 after a clamp to secure the stone was put in place. To make this a finished restoration the pieces should be bonded and the gaps filled with an approved mix.

ODIL, John, 1 May 1786 - 5 Sep 1843. Husband of Mary Kerr. Mary was the daughter of James & Nancy Mitchell Kerr who are also interred  in this cemetery. The death date above is very clearly 1843 and not 1815 as reported by previous Maury County Researchers. Further evidence of the death date is the children on this stone were probably the issues of John & Mary Kerr Odil, but were all born after 1815. Photo & info by Wayne Austin 8 Nov 2003. 

ODIL, George B., 4 Sept 1828 - 24 Aug 1853. 
ODIL, David M., 17 Feb. 1815 - 30 April 1854. 
ODIL, Samuel A., 24 Nov 1820 - 24 Aug 1854. 
 Photo & info by Wayne Austin 8 Nov 2003.

ODIL, Andrew M., 31 Dec 1836 - 5 Aug 1853. 
ODIL, Green W., 8 Jan 1833 - 11 Aug 1853. 
ODIL, Mary E., 7 Mar 1823 - 19 Aug 1853. 
 

ODIL, William T., 7 Dec 1826 - 5 Sept 1845. 
ODIL, Nancy M., 27 Jan 1811 - 19 July 1853. 
ODIL, Thomas T., 22 Aug 1830 - 3 Aug 1853. 
 
Composite image of four sides of the stone.
 This stone represents history revealed possibly for the first time since the historians began to keep serious records of the Maury County Cemeteries. We know the memorial stood gracefully in the cemetery at one time. It contains the names of 10 members of the John & Mary (Kerr) Odil family who died probably from Cholera or Typhoid Fever two of the dreaded infectious diseases of the times. Page 209 of the book "Hither & Yon" Jill Garret states: "In the summer of 1853 Mrs. Mary Kerr Odil of Spring Hill lost eleven of her thirteen children to Typhoid Fever." The evidence on this stone cannot refute that statement even though there are not eleven deaths listed in 1853. The death dates are spread out from 1845 to 1854 with six of them passing in the summer of 1853. There are unmarked stones near this tombstone that could serve as a marker for the remains of the missing inscriptions to form the eleven Jill and her sources speak of. Whatever the perfect details this is the stark reality of the infectious diseases that spread unchecked in the population in the 1800s. Cause of death also listed in the Kerr History Project by Frank Kerr McDaniels of California who stated the cause of death as Cholera. This monument is broken into at least four pieces but contains multiple inscriptions on three sides and the paternal father John listed on the front (east) side. It was unearthed on 8 Nov 02003 by a team of civic minded persons that set it up for a future restoration. It is safely secured for the time being by the strapping and later a 14" steel clamp. Photo & info by Wayne Austin 8 Nov 2003. Revised 22 Dec 2003. Revised + Dec 2005 for photos taken 29 Nov 2005 WA.