Odell, Benjamin B. (Benjamin Barker), 1854-1926

Benjamin Barker Odell (1854-1926) was Governor of New York from 1901 to 1904.

From the description of Benjamin B. Odell letters, 1894-1906. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122607916

From the guide to the Benjamin B. Odell letters, 1894-1906, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)

Benjamin Barker Odell was an American politician who served as the Governor of New York from 1901 to 1904.

Odell was born on January 14, 1854 in Newburgh, New York to Benjamin Barker Odell, Sr. and Ophelia (Bookstaver) Odell. He attended Bethany College in West Virginia before transferring to Columbia College. After his junior year at Columbia, Odell returned home to join his father's ice business. Odell started as a driver of the ice wagon, but eventually became the head of the company. In 1877, he married Estell Cristee who tragically died in 1888 when she drowned in the Hudson River.

Around 1884, Odell was selected as a member of the Republican State Committee and in 1895 was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Serving two terms, Odell acted as chairman of the Committee on Accounts during his second term. In 1891, he was remarried to Linda Traphagen, the widowed sister of his first wife. Most markedly, Odell served as Governor of the New York from 1901-1904.

Throughout his lifetime, Odell also held positions as the Ice Controller of the State during World War I, President of the Consolidated Gas, Electric Light, Heat, and Power Company of Newburgh, and President of the Hudson Steamboat Company. He died on May 9, 1926 in Newburgh, New York.

From the guide to the Benjamin B. Odell Letters, 1901-1922, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)