Charlie Odle's Lifelong Unanswered Question:
"Who Were My Parents?"
Charles (who always used the name Charlie and insisted he was not Charles) filed a birth certificate for himself in 1952 listing Nelson and Jenny Odle as his parents. This was so he would have some official documentation even though he knew they were not his natural parents. On the birth certificate he gave his birth year as 1901. However, the 1910 and 1920 census data both calculate his birth as being in 1903.
It is known that Jenny strongly opposed his marriage to Arietta (testimony of Arietta Weaver Odle). One possibility is that he may have fabricated a birth date of 1901 in order to marry legally without parental consent. His birth place is given as Nilwood, Christian Co., Illinois, which may simply be where the Odle family lived when he was taken in by them.
The 1920 census for Litchfield, Montgomery County, Illinois, lists "Charles" (age 17) still living with the Odles, but no longer listed as Granacher/Cronicker/Croniger. It is almost certain that Charlie Odle and Charles Granacher/Cronicker/Croniger are the same person.
Also, in the 1920 census Charlie's sisters Emma and Flossie are missing. Emma was married by then to Guy Fenton; Flossie may have died. Then living with the Odle's were Elmer, age 18, (see Elmer Durbin) and Troy Painter, age 14, listed as a grandson. Troy was the son of Ida Belle Odle and her second husband, James Painter. It was fairly common, apparently, for the Odle's to let one or more of their children live with relatives from time to time. (Everett Odle, son of Charlie and Arietta, had a similar experience.)
Charlie had been a farmer for many years and was a highway laborer at the time of his death at home from a heart attack.
See the Granacher page for one possible
answer to who Charlie's forebears were.
Descendants of Charlie Odle (aka Charlie Croninger, Granacher, et al)
b: August 25 or 26, 1901 or 1903
d: June 19, 1961 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois
............................ +Arietta May Weaver
b: May 22, 1906 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois
m: September 04, 1922 in Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., Illinois
...................................... 2 [5] Clarence
Nelson Odle
b: October 29, 1923
.......................................... +Vivian Grubbs
b: Unknown
m: April 13, 1946 in Mt. Olive, Illinois Relationship ended
with: Divorce
...................................... *2nd Wife of [5] Clarence
Nelson Odle:
.......................................... +Marsha Schleich
b: Unknown
m: Abt. 1985
(author's parents)
...................................... 2 Everett
Eugene Odle
b: October 11, 1925 in Taylorville, Christian Co., Illinois
..........................................
+Emma Irene Parnell
b: October 21, 1923 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois
m: January 31, 1948 in Riverton, Illinois
b: July 14, 1927 in Taylorville, Christian Co., Illinois
d: June 15, 1995 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois
Burial: Elm Lawn Cemetery, Litchfield, Illinois
.......................................... +Vivian Frances Miller
b: November 20, 1926 in Chatham, Illinois
m: October 28, 1944 in St. Louis, Missouri
...................................... 2 Iona Odle
b: February 15, 1929
d: March 19, 1931
...................................... 2 Bernice Lorraine
Odle
b: May 28, 1930
d: April 27, 1931
...................................... 2 Berniece Odle
b: June 01, 1930
d: June 01, 1930
...................................... 2 Charles Bernard
Odle
b: December 01, 1931 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois
d: December 18, 1965 in Gardner, Illinois
Burial: Crabtree Cemetery, Litchfield, Illinois
.......................................... +Margaret Kaufman
b: Unknown
m: November 02, 1953
d: Unknown
b: April 21, 1934
d: May 11, 2007 in Hillsboro, Illinois
.......................................... +Luva Dyer
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
...................................... *2nd Wife of [6] Paul
Edward Odle:
.......................................... +Bessie Mae DeWitt
b: May 04, 1937
m: 1959 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois Relationship
ended with: Divorce
...................................... *3rd Wife of [6] Paul
Edward Odle:
.......................................... +Evelyn Hatfield
b: June 03, 1936
m: Unknown
...................................... 2 Robert Lamarr
Odle
b: July 10, 1935 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois
d: November 04, 1980 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois
Burial: Crabtree Cemetery, Litchfield, Illinois
.......................................... +Wanda Lou Savage
b: September 28, 1940
m: February 14, 1957 in Springfield, Illinois
b: February 06, 1938
.......................................... +Delores Jean White
b: June 27, 1935
m: April 23, 1960
...................................... 2 [7] Sharon Kay
Odle
b: May 02, 1940 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., Illinois
.......................................... +Larry Arnold Gunderson
b: September 15, 1936
m: November 29, 1958
d: April 18, 1975 in Tuscon, Arizona
Burial: Arizona
...................................... *2nd Husband of [7]
Sharon Kay Odle:
.......................................... +Dennis Wilson
b: June 06, 1938
m: January 26, 1980
b: December 13, 1944 in Hillsboro, Montgomery County, Illinois
.......................................... +Diane Jane Bailey
b: March 04, 1947 in Hillsboro, Montgomery County, Illinois
m: May 05, 1967 in Gillespie, Macoupin Co., Illinois
...................................... 2 [8] Harry Dale
Odle
b: December 13, 1944 in Hillsboro, Montgomery County, Illinois
.......................................... +Betty Koonce
...................................... *2nd Wife of [8] Harry
Dale Odle:
.......................................... +Leata Pearl Law
b: November 30, 1946
m: November 14, 1969
...................................... 2 [9] Alice Ruth
Odle
b: April 17, 1947 in Hillsboro, Montgomery County, Illinois
.......................................... +Bill Myers
Relationship ended with: Divorce
...................................... *2nd Husband of [9]
Alice Ruth Odle:
.......................................... +Randy Mangrum
Relationship ended with: Divorce
...................................... *3rd Husband of [9]
Alice Ruth Odle:
.......................................... +Clyde Eugene Allen
b: May 23, 1942
m: April 10, 1965 Relationship ended with: Divorce
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This web site created by:
Michael Odle
Original materials copyrighted and may not be sold or used for profit in any way, but may be copied for personal use only by permission of web site author. Copyright © 1999 Michael A. Odle