True colonial dwellings in southern Westchester County have dwindled over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There are now only a handful. It is remarkable that such a well-documented and significant Revolutionary War figure as John Odell is closely associated with three of the surviving old colonial homes in the Town of Greenburgh.

The Odell Tavern in Irvington

These tenant farmhouses are more than geographic monuments — they are milestones in time. They remind us that there was an everyday life here long before our own lives. One of the dwellings is the ancient farmhouse and tavern of the 1690s that sits near Broadway within the gates of an Irvington estate. It was modified a bit over the years, but it is intact and closely resembles its original incarnation. John Odell lived there just before the Revolution, after his father, Jonathan, moved the family from Van Cortlandt Manor in 1774.

John was the eldest son of a large family. In June of 1776, at the age of nineteen, he made his way to Tarrytown with two brothers and a cousin. There, under the huge whitewood tree that was to be named "Andre's Tree," the four young men enlisted as patriot soldiers. It is said that John Odell was the first to volunteer on the parade ground at Tarrytown. He did so under the disapproving eye of the notorious county sheriff, James Delancey. This was a period of desperate struggle in New York and Westchester, encompassing the Battles of Long Island and White Plains, but there are few details of John Odell's military service during those first six months.

We learn from his pension "memorial" that John was serving "on the lines" in November, 1776, following the Battle of White Plains. About that time, his father, Jonathan Odell, was taken prisoner and jailed in New York with several other patriot neighbors. Odell was the only one of them to survive imprisonment. During his absence and that of his sons, the farm was visited by a large British force under General Vaughn that reportedly cut down the orchard, burned the wheat, and killed the hogs, leaving the Odell women and the younger children "destitute of support." During the war, a troop of Hessians was said to have hanged Caesar, a family slave, to acquire information.

In January of 1777, John Odell and several other men were appointed guides for the American army under General Lincoln, when it descended into southern Westchester to "demonstrate" against the British defenses on Manhattan. It is not clear what Odell was doing in the year and a half between this time and the summer of 1778, when he began to emerge as one of the three great "Westchester Guides" of the war. That summer he was officially appointed to the guides or "Horse Guards" and presented with a "splendid gray steed and a pair of pistols by Colonel Van Cortlandt." He was given a captain's pay and placed immediately under the orders of the commanding officers of the Westchester lines. That fall he saved the command of a Colonel Gist from annihilation by leading it away from an ambush near Yonkers. During the same month, Odell's brother, Isaac or "Uck," was the chief guide at the Battle of Edgar's Lane, in Hastings.

The war in Westchester County had a bitterly personal aspect. It was in fact a civil war that pitted neighbor against neighbor. The residents of the county were divided by their loyalties — some to their king and some to their adoptive land. The loyalist American combatants (or Tories) were headquartered in the Bronx under the command of the former county sheriff-Colonel James Delancey. He knew the Odell family from before the war, and, when John appeared at his headquarters on a mission, under a flag of truce, Delancey took John aside and advised him that things would be unpleasant for his family and friends if he did not "retire." About one year later, John Odell guided the troops of the French officer, Colonel Armand, in the capture of Major Bearmore, Delancey's second in command.

In January 1780, Odell was present when an American regiment under Lt. Col. Thompson was attacked at Youngs' Corners (near Westchester Medical Center). Odell, who had scouted the enemy's strength, advised Thompson to pull back, but the colonel refused and was subsequently captured with that part of his command who were not killed or wounded. Odell was sent in vain to summon relief, and returned to deliver a young woman to safety.

From eyewitness accounts, we have a relatively close description of John Odell. He was strong, energetic, and fast, standing six feet tall, with long limbs and rounded shoulders. His leadership was characterized by careful planning and great caution; in action he was resolute and cool. An expert with a horse and saber, he could strike pursuers at a great distance. Many of Delancey's men knew this and kept away from Odell.

In April 1780, Odell led another raid on loyalist encampments in the Bronx. Before the raid, he managed to capture two loyalist recruits who divulged their password. Then Odell's party captured about twenty of the enemy and managed to elude a larger loyalist force that was sent in pursuit.

Shortly after this, Odell was appointed a lieutenant in a New York regiment that was stationed on the Mohawk River for six months. In the fall of that year he returned to his duties as a Westchester guide, continuing attempts to capture James Delancey, while at the same time trying not to be captured himself.

In July 1781, John Odell was the principal guide in the advance of the combined French and American armies toward New York. The farmhouse which was used as a headquarters by Rochambeau, the French commander, was to be John Odell's farmhouse after the war. It is still standing on Ridge Road in Hartsdale.

After this feint against the British stronghold in New York, the French and American armies marched to Virginia and defeated Cornwallis in the decisive Battle of Yorktown. But the Treaty of Paris was not yet signed, and the fighting in Westchester was not over. The raiding continued on both sides and the cautious Odell was nearly captured on a visit to the home of his fiancée, Hannah McChain. He only escaped by hiding up in the rafters of the house.

The final event of the war in Westchester was a last attempt to capture Delancey. Odell lead a small American force to the loyalist headquarters in the Bronx, but Delancey was missing. They took captives and retreated north through Dobbs Ferry and Tarrytown, but when they got to Ossining the weary men refused to press on beyond the safety of the Croton River. They loitered at a hospitable farmhouse named "Orser's" and before long were ambushed by a larger enemy force. Odell was pursued by two loyalist officers and was only able to escape after wounding one and riding out onto the frozen Hudson River. That night, John Paulding — captor of Major Andre — was captured and taken to New York, and John McChain — the brother of Odell's fiancée — was killed.

The war ended, and John Odell married Hannah McChain; they lived for a year or two at the McChain house. Afterward, they bought the house that served as a headquarters for Rochambeau. In 1786, John was commissioned a captain in the state militia and a Lt. Colonel in 1797. He died in 1835 and was laid to rest near the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow.

But what of the third colonial dwelling he is associated with? It is said that, during the war, Odell chased a small number of loyalist soldiers away from the "old McCormick house" which still stands today off Route 119 across from the Marriott Hotel. It is a red building that was used for many years as an antique store. The story goes that he stayed the night at the house, but in the morning could not locate his breeches. Upon being ordered to attend his commanding officer, Col. Sheldon, he accepted the petticoat which his hostess offered, and reported for duty. For many years to come, White Plains Road was known as "Petticoat Lane" in honor of John Odell's fashion statement.

Henry Steiner is the village historian of Sleepy Hollow and a real estate broker with Hudson Homes in Tarrytown.