Edna Odell, A Story of Perseverance

November 15th, 1874 - August 30th, 1921

By Tessa Payer, with contributors Susan Seal and Susan Werbe

Introduction

We’ve all become too familiar in 2020-21 with images of overworked doctors and nurses struggling to care for the unimaginable number of COVID-19 patients. Looking back a century, nurses in the World War I theatre dealt with similar circumstances. They treated victims of Spanish flu, tended to wounded soldiers, and ministered to sick and hungry children, many of whom were orphaned by the devastating war.

This was the experience of Edna Odell, who grew up in Hartsdale, New York. Edna became a nurse who worked in Westchester County and New York City, and most notably served as an American Red Cross nurse in France in 1918 and 1919. As we attempt to unravel her history through documents recently found in the Odell House—personal letters, financial records, luggage tags, passports, artifacts, photographs, and more—we begin to understand how a woman born in 1874 made the decision to set sail for France in the midst of war. It’s a story of an independent and persevering woman who came of age in a world on the precipice of change. It’s a story that could be told of women today.

A Family Legacy of Service

Edna’s passion for service was rooted in her family history. Her great-grandfather, Colonel John Odell, was well-known in Hartsdale for his early participation in the American Revolution. In 1776, at the age of 19, he enlisted in the Continental Army, served in various militias, and eventually became one of George Washington’s trusted guides. His story no doubt inspired his descendants to follow a path of civic duty. His son, John Jackson, served in the War of 1812, and his grandson Dyckman (Edna’s father) was a member of the Lincoln Brigade in the Civil War. Edna’s brother, Otis, volunteered for the Spanish American War in 1898, the same year that she entered nursing school. Edna’s family legacy is in the foundation and walls of the farmhouse where she grew up.

Farm Work and Sleigh Rides—Childhood in Hartsdale

Edna’s childhood was spent on this family farm, which had supported the Odells for nearly a hundred years. Her great-grandfather John Odell purchased the small house and 200 surrounding acres in 1785 with the bonus he received for exemplary service during the Revolutionary War. The house came with a genuine stamp of importance: it had served for six weeks in 1781 as the headquarters for French General Rochambeau, who helped Gen. George Washington turn the tide of the war. (It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.) John enlarged the structure almost immediately, and it remained that size until 1855 when Dyckman added a stone wing and expanded the farmhouse to 8 rooms. It was situated close to the main thoroughfare on an unpaved dirt road. At the time of Edna’s birth in 1874, the spartan farmhouse had no indoor plumbing or electricity. Heating came only from a few Franklin stoves.

Dyckman and Lauretta raised seven children there: Nauchie, Edna, Otis, Zelma, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Bonnet. All were expected to help raise the crops destined for the New York City markets. A cider press recently found in the Odell House would have been used to process apples picked from the family orchard and make cider to sell in the city. There were horses, pigs, chickens, and sheep to care for, and the children worked together. The siblings’ responsibilities included protecting the sheep from predators, and Edna’s sister Elizabeth would later recall sheep shearing and wool production. Edna wrote her aunt Margaret in 1886, “Otis has only one little turkey left of eight.” Perhaps he had hoped to sell them at Thanksgiving!

Schooling was happenstance. The siblings would have walked about a half-mile to a two-room school-house on Washington Avenue. Edna’s older sister, Nauchie, wrote to their aunt, “I am going to school as soon as I get a new pair of shoes.” There were some fun times as well. The Odell children visited the Westchester County Fair and ice cream festivals, and went on sleigh rides with their “Papa” in the winter.

“Suppose I will stick it out”—Edna at Nursing School

As they matured, Edna and her sisters entered a changing world, especially for women. The late nineteenth century saw the rise of the women’s suffrage and women’s rights movements. Higher education for women grew enormously in the 19th century, and by the 1890s, around 85,000 women were enrolled in colleges in the United States. The number of women employed in the United States rose rapidly as well, from 2.6 million in 1880 to 7.8 million in 1910. Alongside teaching and clerical work, nursing emerged as an employment opportunity for these women.

We have no record of Edna’s high school education. Her younger sisters Elizabeth and Zelma attended a newly- opened high school in White Plains. But we do know that in 1898, at the age of 24, Edna enrolled in nursing school. She left no source for her motivation, but nursing societies had been around since the late 18th century, primarily training nurses to care for maternity patients. Clara Barton’s work as a volunteer nurse during the Civil War helped to prove the need for formalized nursing training. The Women’s Hospital of Philadelphia began a nurse training program in 1863, which is considered to be the first state chartered school for nurses in the United States. Ten years later, three major nursing schools - associated with Bellevue Hospital, New Haven Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital, were established. The founding of the American Red Cross by Clara Barton in 1881 further validated that nursing was a worthy profession, and nursing programs increased and broadened their focus. In Yonkers, the Cochran Training School of Nursing opened in 1894, and Edna entered four years later. The school is connected to St. John’s Riverside Hospital, and continues today as the oldest nursing school in Westchester County.

By 1900, there were 400 nursing programs in the United States. The training was grueling, closer to apprenticeships than classroom education, menial work at no or low compensation, and often lax sanitary conditions. For Edna, it was an exercise in perseverance. “At 7 o’clock tomorrow morning must find me [sic] at the hospital ready to accept all the ugly temper of others because I am the newest probationer,” she wrote in November 1898. After spending her early life surrounded by her siblings, Edna was homesick, especially when presented with unruly patients, unhelpful doctors, and uncomfortable sleeping quarters. Edna wrote frequent letters to her family. “Been on duty every night and the case is awfully hard,” a “dead tired” Edna lamented to Nauchie in February 1899. On November 6th, 1900, she described bending over patients’ beds, complaining, “my shoulders are aching to beat the band.” A common refrain during her nursing school days was the perpetual insect problem. “This is the most shiftless place,” she wrote to one of her sisters. “The only industrious people or things are the Doctor’s nurses and bed bugs...nights are one long siege, bedbugs winners every time.”

Despite her complaints, Edna appears to have developed a passion for working with children, and her letters suggest that she was training as a maternity and infant nurse. Even as she complained about bedrooms “too dirty for words,” at one hospital, she noted that “the babies are sweet and cunning.” In November 1900, while living in New York City at 126 East 59th St, Edna was put in charge of a ward of 15 children. Though she did not specify at which hospital the ward was located, it may have been the Nursery and Child’s Hospital in New York City, located at 51st St. and Lexington Ave. Founded in 1854 as a place for wet nurses to leave their own infants while they worked, the hospital expanded and became the first in the United States to treat children under the age of 12.

Nursing in the Neighborhood—Edna as a district nurse

Edna, in her own words, “stuck it out,” and in 1902 she graduated and began her career—even though nursing in the early 20th century was an uncertain path. (It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that hospitals gave nurses more stable employment.) We haven’t discovered primary sources to inform what attracted Edna to nursing but perhaps she enjoyed having some financial independence while helping patients. Although many nurses entered private care, Edna’s pursuits were different. The 1910 United States census records her working as a district nurse, a steady job with a guaranteed income, and living in a rented apartment on West 261st Street in Northwest Bronx.

District nursing, sometimes called visiting nursing, arose out of a late-19th century public health movement epitomized by Lillian Wald’s Henry Street Settlement House. In 1893, Wald and Mary Brewster, graduates of the New York Hospital School of Nursing, moved to the Lower East Side of New York City, where they provided medical treatment, social services, built community spaces, and fought for reform for individuals living in the area. Wald, who coined the term “public health nurse” in 1893, stated, “our basic idea was that the nurse’s peculiar introduction to the patient and her organic relationship with the neighborhood should constitute the starting point for a universal service to the region.” Besides the main location at 299-301 Henry Street, Wald’s settlement house maintained a district nursing service throughout Manhattan and the Bronx. Edna may have been familiar with Henry Street’s branch in the Bronx, established in October 1906 at 862 Cauldwell Avenue.

As a district nurse, Edna’s days likely included visiting patients’ homes for checkups and treatments, providing advice and support to community members, and working on educational campaigns. Norma Anderson writes in “The Historical Development of American Nursing Education” that district nursing services often focused on maternity and infant care, which would have drawn on Edna’s nursing school experience overseeing children’s wards. At the end of a long work day, Edna returned to the apartment on West 261st Street she shared with sisters Zelma, Elizabeth, and Margaret. It was a home of working women - Zelma and Elizabeth were public school teachers and Margaret was a filing clerk, later a librarian.

Family Responsibilities

In addition to her nursing career, Edna had family responsibilities. Her father, Dyckman, was a strict parent and a successful, though quarrelsome, businessman. His 1907 obituary somewhat delicately noted, “He was well known in Westchester County for the reason that he was always at law with his neighbors over property and rights of way.” His presence likely cast a shadow over the family, and continued to do so after his death. In his will, Dyckman stated that bequests to his two eldest children, Edna and Nauchie, and his widow, Lauretta, would be revoked if they married. It is interesting to note that not one of his seven children ever married. 

Dyckman made Edna the main executor of his will, and after his death in 1907, her letters are filled with discussions of property and crop sales. In particular, she lamented that rents were not being paid and worried about raising money to meet mortgage payments. Dealing with Dyckman’s estate, which included some 160 acres of farmland, may have put Edna at odds with the rest of the family. She wrote to her sister Elizabeth in June 1907, bemoaning how “the whole family [is] striving to see how [sic] nasty & mean things they can accuse me of.” Tensions already present in the family were exacerbated. In a second letter from June 1907, Edna complained to Elizabeth, “Nauchie is howling about me every day as usual- quit[e] like old times.” Despite frequent differences of strong-held positions, the siblings still exchanged letters and travelled together, a testament to their strong bond. On March 31st, 1908, Edna wrote from Colorado Springs saying that she and Zelma had just arrived in the town from Denver. Though Edna noted that “I still think [Zelma] would like it better alone perhaps,” the two sisters visited Cave-of-the-Winds where Edna noted that “Indians worshipped the images on the rock...and the rock is crumbling.”

‘Over There’—World War I and the American Red Cross

In early 1918, Edna made a decision that would radically change her life. A year after the United States had officially entered World War I, she applied to be a nurse in Europe with the American Red Cross (ARC), a branch of the International Red Cross. The ARC began its first World War I relief mission in August 1914. 170 Red Cross surgeons and nurses travelled to Europe on a German passenger steamer called the Hamberg—renamed the SS Red Cross—to bring medical equipment and supplies to the front. Led by Jane Arminda Delano, the American Red Cross Nursing Service, founded in 1909, looked for trained nurses to join their ranks. “Graduate nurses, your country needs you,” entreated the 1917 recruitment poster here. Others emphasized the value of the public health nurse to the war effort, describing how “she answers humanity’s call.” We have yet to find an account of what convinced Edna to join the ARC and pursue patriotic service, but the words of a fellow nurse may shed some light on her thoughts. In June 1918, Mae Chamberlain, an old friend of Edna’s who may have worked with her inNew York, wrote a letter from the front lines. “I never was more thankful to have been sent anywhere than here in all my nursing career.” Chamberlain exulted, “I know now that this is what I graduated for - what my real mission as a nurse was meant to be.” Edna may have seen wartime nursing as her own ‘real mission,’ her way to carve out a piece of the Odell legacy.

By June 1918, Edna packed her ARC uniforms and medical equipment and was on her way ‘Over There,’ sailing to France aboard the SS La Savoie. She was one of nearly 20,000 ARC nurses eventually assigned to active duty overseas. ‘Active duty’ encompassed a variety of departments and bureaus beyond tending to wounded soldiers. With her experience treating children in New York, Edna was sent to the Children’s Bureau, a subset of American Red Cross Civilian Relief. It was described by bureau head William Palmer Lucas as a group “doing children’s work and also a good deal of medical work for women throughout the whole of France.” From its founding in July 1917, the Bureau created children’s hospitals and dispensaries, held weekly clinics, and distributed pamphlets on prenatal care and children’s health. Just a few months before Edna’s arrival, the Bureau had put on a Child Welfare Exhibit in Lyon, providing information for adults and fun activities for children. Assigned to the Children’s Bureau’s office in Paris, Edna’s work brought her in close contact with the youngest victims of World War I. By 1918, relief organizations estimated that as many as 200,000 French children were orphaned or left with one parent. Working with organizations like the Frontier Children of France, the Children’s Bureau coordinated the evacuation of children from the front lines, placing them in orphanages or children’s colonies. A report by the Franco-American Committee for the Protection of the Children of the Frontier described one young group of refugees as “frightened and homeless, many of them ill from shock and exposure. One little boy was so shattered that he did not speak for three months after his arrival.” Edna would have witnessed such heartbreaking scenes.

Although immersed in wartime work, Edna also took some comfort in what Paris had to offer. She found lodging at the Hotel Pétrograd, run by the American Y.W.C.A. (Young Women’s Christian Association), where other war workers resided and ate meals. Edna saved receipts and detailed accounts of her expenses, from rent to groceries to laundry. Like her father, Dyckman, she was a meticulous record keeper.

Motherhood at 45—Adopting Roland and Simone

On April 20th, 1919, after some 10 months of service, Edna wrote the Manager of the French Line Transatlantique Company, “I am returning to New York...on the steamer ‘Espagne.’” However, she was not travelling home alone. “I also have the necessary passports and visas for Roland Lotte,” she added, “a French child of four years whom I wish to take with me.” It was a bold decision to become a single mother at a time when women were still fighting for basic legal rights, including the vote. Back at home, her sisters eagerly prepared for Roland’s arrival. “Really, I am delighted to think this change has come to us.” Elizabeth (nicknamed Ibbie) wrote to her sister in March 1919, as she was putting the final paint touches on Roland’s crib. “It will make a big difference all around.”

After some last minute uncertainties with permits, Rollie accompanied Edna on the trip back to New York that April. Edna’s great pride in her new son is evidenced by the many photographs she took of Rollie as well as letters describing him. Edna wrote to friends abroad in Rollie’s “voice”, letting them know of his progress. She also kept up a correspondence with Rollie’s biological mother, Lotte. From letters sent to Edna by friends still in France, it appears that Rollie’s mother was quite ill in a Versailles hospital, and his father was unknown. Through her friend Betty, Edna sent Lotte money and pictures of Rollie as he adjusted to life in the United States. Betty wrote in December 1919, “Rolie’s mother was delighted with the photo, she just loved it.” Edna kept her up to date with Roland’s growth until Lotte’s death in August 1920. When Betty informed Edna of Lotte’s passing, she noted, “I had written her a letter...telling her how well Rolie was and that she could be at peace about him.”

Adoption was not a simple process, but Edna was determined to have her own family. While Rollie’s adoption was making its way through the legal system, Edna was also trying to adopt a little girl, Renee, who was still in France. Although that adoption fell through, Edna persevered, and by March 1920 another child, named Simone, came into her life.

Friends in France, perhaps former fellow nurses, watched over Simone and updated Edna with her latest developments through frequent letters. “She is a picture of health and strength and grows prettier every day,” Phyllis Stevens wrote in March 1920. Stevens also noted, “she has a temper like Rolly. If she isn’t pleased she simply shouts at you.” On April 20th, 1920, she reported, “your baby went out today in new white boots, a white voile frock and a large white bow on her hair! She is mighty proud of herself and shows her boots to everyone in the metro.” Though the two-year-old’s voyage to the United States was postponed several times, passage was finally secured in May 1920, and Simone arrived in New York to join Edna and five-year-old Roland.

Back in the United States, Edna settled into civilian life, living with her adopted children and two of her sisters, Margaret and Elizabeth, in a beautiful home they had built in 1916 at 65 Circle Drive, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Edna is listed in public records as a nurse with the City Health Department, a continuation of her interest in public health. Though there are only a few letters that describe Edna as a mother, surviving photos show Edna with Roland and Simone playing outdoors. Edna took them to the seashore and revelled in their growth. Phyllis Gilliman née Stevens remained in touch with the family and was thrilled to see the children doing well. “I think Rollie looks older and a fine little fellow,” she wrote Edna on June 10th, 1921, “but am glad to see that Simone seems just the same as when she left us. Fatter tho!...what a change of life for the poor wee mites. Think of what they might have been.”

Tragedy—Edna’s early death

Tragically, Edna did not live to see her children grow up. Letters often refer to her being ill with pleurisy, and she may have had chronic heart disease. On August 10, 1921, at the age of 46, Edna suddenly died during gallbladder surgery. Roland and Simone were left to be raised by their grandmother Lauretta and aunts Margaret and Elizabeth. Simone married in 1942, moved to Rochester, NY, and started her own family. Roland never married and lived in the Odell House until his death in 1990. It is fortunate that he preserved so much of the family memorabilia, allowing us to share in their and our country’s rich history.

August 30th, 2021 will mark 100 years since Edna Odell’s death. The Friends of Odell House Rochambeau Headquarters are proud to present her powerful history. Her life stands as a testament to her endurance—a woman born into a large family at the end of the 19th century who managed to carve out her own story amid difficult circumstances, who persevered in a tough profession but one that gave her the opportunity to help others, especially children, and who fought for the adoption—as a single mother—of two children from war-torn France. Edna’s life was not an easy one, but like her ancestors, she left behind a legacy of patriotism and service that can be an inspiration for all.

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All photos and quotes, unless otherwise captioned, are part of the Odell House Rochambeau Collection, courtesy of the NY Chapter of the SAR, now housed at the Westchester County Historical Society.

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