1925 Biography - John F. Odom

John Fred Odom has gained excellent standing as one of the able and resourceful members of the bar of his native state, and, with residence in the City of Baton Rouge, he is serving (1925) his third term as district attorney of the Nineteenth (formerly twenty-second) Judicial District of Louisiana.

Mr. Odom was born at Grangeville, St. Helena parish, Louisiana, on the 18th of June, 1882, and is a son of the late James M. Odom, who was born in that parish in the year 1849, and whose death occurred in the capital city of Baton Rouge on the 18th of January, 1922. James M. Odom was a son of Isaac Odom, who was born in Darlington District, South Carolina, December 24, 1824, and who came to Louisiana and established himself as a P liter in St. Helena Parish, where he took up his residence in the year 1848 and where he continued his activities until 1912, when he retired and returned to Baton Rouge, his death having here occurred in the spring of 1916. Isaac Odom represented Louisiana as a loyal soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, and the same fine loyalty characterized his civic stewardship. His wife, whose maiden name was Zylphia Stanley, was born in Alabama, and her death occurred at the home in St. Helena Parish in 1891. Isaac Odom was a son of Thomas Odom, who was born in North Carolina, where the family was founded in the Colonial era, but who passed virtually his entire life in Darlington District, South Carolina, where he was a successful exponent of agricultural industry. His father, Jacob Odom, likewise was a native of North Carolina, and shortly after completing his service as a patriotic soldier in the War of the Revolution removed with his family to Darlington District, South Carolina, from Robinson County, North Carolina. He was numbered among the substantial planters in Darlington District, and there remained until the close of his life. The original American representatives of the Odom family came from England.

James M. Odom received in his youth excellent educational advantages, including those of Mississippi College, at Clinton, Mississippi. He gained place as one of the leading merchants in St. Helena Parish, where he continued his residence until 1901, when he established himself in the same line of enterprise in Baton Rouge, where his death occurred in 1922, as previously noted in this context. He was influential in the councils of the democratic, party in St. Helena Parish, and represented that parish as a member of the State Legislature from 1896 to 184O. During the administration of Governor Hall he served as president of the Board of Trustees of the Louisiana State Institute for the Blind, 1912-l3. He was a zealous member of the Baptist Church, as is also his widow, who still resides in Baton Rouge, and in this church he served as a deacon. He was a past master of Grangeville Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

In St. Helena Parish was solemnized the marriage of James M. Odom and Miss Mary J. Brown, who was born in East Feliciana Parish, this state, in February, 1861, and who resides in the capital city, as previously stated. Of the children the eldest is John Fred, the immediate subject of this sketch; Dr. Kirk S. was a student in the medical department of Tulane University at the time of his death, in 1914 Lee is the wife of Montfort Hull, who is giving effective service in the extension work of the University of Louisiana, and they maintain their home in Baton Rouge; Perla is the wife of George Baillio, an expert and registered accountant, and they reside at Lake Charles, this state.

To private schools in his native parish is John F. Odom indebted for his early educational discipline, which was advanced by his attending Baywood Academy, in East Baton Rouge Parish, and by the completion of the studies of his sophomore year in the Louisiana State University, where he became affiliated with the Kappa Sigma college fraternity. Upon leaving the university, in 1901, he turned his attention to the life insurance business, with headquarters in Baton Rouge, and he continued his activities along this line until 1905. In the meanwhile he had entered the law department of Tulane University, and in this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1906, his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws having been virtually coincident with his admission to the Louisiana bar. At Tulane lie was a member of the representative student organization known as the Ivy Club. In the year of his graduation Mr. Odom established himself in the practice of law at Baton Rouge, and here he has made a record of admirable professional achievement, including his service as judge of the Municipal Court, 1915-17, and also his specially effective work as district attorney of the Twenty-second (now Nineteenth) Judicial District, an office to which he was first elected in 1916 and of which he has continued the incumbent, by re-election in 1920 and in 1924, since January 1, 1917. His second and third elections to this office were effected without the appearance of an opposing candidate, and indicated the high popular estimate placed upon his service.

Mr. Odom is influential in the councils and campaign activities of the democratic party in Louisiana. He is a member of the East Baton Rouge Parish Bar Association and the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce, and he holds membership also in the Baton Rouge Golf and Country Club. In the Masonic fraternity his affiliations are with St. James Lodge No. 47, A. F. and A. M.; Washington Chapter No. 37, R. A. M.; and Plains Commandery No. 11, Knights Templar, all at Baton Rouge. He was a vital factor in advancing local patriotic service and measures in the World war period, and served as government appeal agent for East Baton Rouge Parish.

June 29, 1908, recorded the marriage of Mr. Odom and Miss Ada Reddy, of Baton Rouge, in which city the death of her father, Charles J. Reddy, occurred in the year 1899, he having been president of the First National Bank and the Baton Rouge Brick Yard Company, and also the executive head of the wholesale grocery house of Gang, Reddy & Company. Mrs. Reddy, whose maiden name was Julia Bonnecaze, died in the capital city in July, 1924. Mrs. Odom received educational advantages including those of a college at Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Odom have no children.

Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from A History of Louisiana, by Henry E. Chambers, published in 1925, volume 2, pages 121-122.