Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/597

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ODIN
O'DONNEL

Devout Churchman's Companion” (New York, 1841); “The True Catholic no Romanist” (1842); “Thoughts on Immersion” (1843); “The Young Churchman Catechised” (1844); “Bishop White's Opinions” (Philadelphia, 1846); “Essay on Canon Law” (New York, 1847) : “The Clergyman's Assistant in Reading the Liturgy” (Philadelphia, 1847); “The Private Prayer-Book” (1851); “Jerusalem and its Vicinity,” being the result of a visit there in 1851 (1855); and “F. Ringelburgius on Study.” He was also joint editor of “Songs of the Spirit: Hymns of Praise and Prayer to God the Holy Ghost” (New York, 1871).


ODIN, John Mary, archbishop, b. in Ambierle, department of the Loire, Prance, 25 Feb., 1801 ; d. there, 25 May, 1870. He became a member of the congregation of the Lazarists, and in 1822, although he was not yet a priest, was sent to labor on a mis- sion in Missouri. He taught and studied in the Seminary of the Barrens near St. Louis, was raised to the priesthood in 1824, and the same year set •out on a missionary tour through Texas and Ar- kansas. After his return he remained at the Bar- rens, filling at the same time the functions of supe- rior of the seminary and director of the Lorentine nuns, while discharging the duties of missionary in a wide area. He attended the second council of Baltimore in 1833 as theologian to Bishop Rosati, and went in the same year to Europe to solicit as- sistance for the Lazarist missions and to attend a general assembly of the order in Paris as deputy from the United States. The assembly decreed the suppression of the Seminary of the JBarrens, but, through the interposition of Father Odin, the insti- tution was saved. He was stationed there after his return till 1836, when he was appointed pastor of Cape Girardeau. He returned to the Lazarist seminary in the following year and held various offices and professorships in it until 1840. when he was appointed vice-prefect of Texas. He went to San Antonio, and afterward to Houston, obtained from the legislature the restoration of its ecclesias- tical property to the Roman Catholic church, and -also extensive grants of land for educational pur- poses. He was also an energetic promoter of emi- gration. In 1841 he was summoned to the Bar- rens to take council with his superiors on the best mode of advancing religion in Texas. When he reached New Orleans, on his way, he was in rags, .having given nearly all his effects to poor people. He was supplied with the necessary clothing by Bishop Blanc, who also handed him the bulls that had just come from Rome appointing him bishop of Detroit. But his superiors ordered him to return to his mission, as it was more easy to find a competent person for the vacant see than for the Texan mission. Soon after his return Texas was created a vicariate in favor of Father Odin, who was consecrated vicar-apostolic in New Orleans on 6 March, 1842. He had only four priests to minis- ter to a population of more than 200,000, but he repaired the old church of San Antonio and several others, built new ones at various places, and estab- lished several schools with the help of the govern- ment. But his resources became exhausted, and in 1845 he sailed for Europe, where he obtained assist- ance. In 1847 he established in Galveston a com- munity of Ursuline nuns, who opened an academy and formed the first religious community in Texas. The vicariate was erected into the bishopric of Galveston the same year. Bishop Odin made Gal- veston his official residence. He founded various convents and schools, went a second time to Europe in 1852, and returned the same year with six priests -and sixteen ecclesiastical students, whom he or- dained soon afterward. In November, 1854, he began to build the College of the Immaculate Con- ception, which he placed under the charge of the Oblate Fathers. He obtained a charter for it as a university in 1857. A marked feature in the ad- ministration of Bishop Odin was his annual visita- tions. His course often lay through the country of the Comanches and other hostile tribes, and sometimes no intelligence of his movements was received for months. He travelled usually on horseback, over bad roads, and frequently with hardly food enough to support life. In the visita- tion of 1858 he travelled 2,000 miles, confirmed nearly 4,000 persons, preached in French, Spanish, and English, and visited every town of any impor- tance on the Rio Grande and in the interior of the republic. The Roman Catholic church in Texas is to a great extent his creation. When he left it there were in it eighty-two priests and fifty churches. In 1861 he was appointed archbishop of New Orleans. During his administration there the number of churches and priests nearly doubled, and many other religious institutions were founded. He set out for Rome in 1869, but was obliged to leave on account of his health.


ODIORNE, Thomas, poet, b. in Exeter, N. H., 26 April, 1769; d. in Maiden, Mass., 18 May, 1851. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1791, and sold books in Exeter until 1800. After engaging in business in Boston until 1811, he removed to Mai- den, Mass., where he became an iron-manufacturer. In 1792 he published " The Progress of Refine- ment," a poem, and " Fame, and Miscellanies."


O'BONNEL, James Louis, colonial R. C. bishop, b. in Knocklofty, County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1737 ; d. in Waterford, Ireland, 11 April, 1811. He entered the Franciscan order, was sent to Bohemia, and on the completion of his theological studies was ordained priest in Prague in 1770. He was chaplain to several noble families till 1775, when he returned to Ireland, was appointed prior of the Franciscans of Waterford, and in 1779 became provincial of the order in Ireland. In 1784 he was sent to Newfoundland, with the rank of prefect-apostolic, for the purpose of organizing the Roman Catholic church in that island. He was at first hampered in his mission by the local authorities, but his services in 1799 during a mutiny gained their favor. His influence afterward, even in secular affairs, placed him almost on an equality with the governor. At this time the Duke of Clarence, afterward William IV., was attached as a midshipman to the Newfoundland station. His sensuality had already made him unpopular at St. John's, and when he flung a weapon at Dr. O'Donnel, who happened to be passing a billiard-room in which the prince was, it aroused the indignation of the whole population. The missile inflicted only a slight wound, and, although Dr. O'Donnel used every exertion to quiet the popular feeling, the young prince was exj)Osed to great danger. The arrival of his commander with a guard of marines probably saved his life. He was arrested and conveyed on board his vessel, which at once left the harbor. In 1796 Dr. O'Donnel was appointed vicar-apostolic of Newfoundland, and he was consecrated bishop of Thyatira in jxtrf/bns on 21 Sept. in Quebec. He then returned to Newfoundland, and made the first episcopal visitation of the island since the English had obtained possession of it. In 1801 he published a body of diocesan statutes, adapted to the condition of his church in Newfoundland, and divided the diocese into missions. Besides the cares of the bishopric, the want of clergymen obliged him to discharge the duties of a missionary priest,