More About the Children of
Narcisse and Edesse.

Matilda Genevieve Petelle Odenbrett (1862-1946).

Her name on her baptism record reads “Marie Genevieve Mathilda”. Siméon Mondou, her godfather, was her mother Edesse's younger brother. “Genevieve” was the name of Edesse's mother and Edesse may have chosen the name “Mathilda” in honor of her younger sister Mathilda who had died 1½ years earlier. Matilda was around 9 when her family made the move from Canada. Misspelled "Micheladen" in the 1880 census, she was 17 years old working at a hat factory in Milwaukee. (Perhaps the Slocum Hat Factory on Reed Street?)

January 1, 1882 she married John Henry Odenbrett at Immaculate Conception Church, with her brother (Narcisse) Rock as witness. A daughter, Edesse or Dessie was born a year later on February 17th and baptized the next day with Mathilda's siblings Narcisse (Rocque) Petelle and Hermine Gervais standing as godparents.

Henry was the foreman at the 5th avenue location of A.S. Gage Dry Goods, while the family lived on May Street. By 1888 they had moved to 59 Rhine and he was in the corset business.

Soon Matilda's siblings made the move to Chicago; Paul was married there in 1895. Joseph and brother-in-law Noe Gervais returned from Ashland as the Panic of 1893 took its toll on that area. Noe went to work as a corset cutter, presumably with Henry. Daughter Dessie was confirmed "Genevieve" at St. Sylvester on 4 June 1895, along with Hermine's son Charles. Edward and Emma were confirmed June 1897.

A Murder

He was suspected of murdering his wife, and then dissolving her remains in a vat of chemicals. The sausage maker, Mr. Luetgart, claimed that his wife had gone out of town but the evidence suggested foul play. At his trial, the prosecution called J. H. Odenbrett to testify as expert witness. It seems pieces of metal were found in the garbage – could they be a part of the missing woman's corset? Henry was called to the witness stand where he examined the strips of metal which the defense claimed were part of a machine in Luetgart's shop...

"IDENTIFY THE CORSET STEELS –

J.H. Odenbrett and Edward B. Cody Testify as Experts in the Field

"J. H. Odenbrett was called by Assistant State's Attorney McEwen and testified he was a corset maker and had been in that business uninterruptedly for the last thirteen years, and was familiar with corset manufacturing in this city, and the different materials that go to make up a corset. He was shown the several pieces of burned and rusty steels produced from the possession of Captain Schueffler and identified them as various pieces that go to make up a corset. …

Corset Steels and a Tooth

"From the other figures I will select first the corset maker, who came to prove that the strips of steel found in the rubbish were actually corset-steels, and not, as Mr. Phalen had imagined, portions of a mysterious machine called "scale-board". He was a small, intellectual-looking amiable little man, thoroughly conversant with corset affairs; and he proved his thesis up to the hilt. He laid the bits out on the piece of old newspaper in which they were wrapped, and put each in its proper place, gave it its proper title and there you were. What a trivial thing; and yet what a terrible importance it may have! One meets a thousand men like the corsetmaker traversing the city on their daily affairs, and never thinks of them again; and yet, one day, this unconspicuous person may step into the witness-chair and quietly slip a noose over your head. What an awful thing evidence is!..."
Chicago Daily Tribune, page 2, September 9, 1897

Filing for a Patent.

In 1899 Matilda's mother Edesse deeded the family home on Russell Street in Milwaukee to her. Edesse moved to Chicago and married Odilon Myer that year. Matilda may have had a hand in the matchmaking, as her son Edward and Odilon's daughter Emma were both confirmed at St. Sylvester in June 1897. Surely the families would have had contact. At any rate, after the Myer's marriage they lived on Milwaukee Avenue, around the corner from the Odenbrett home.

Their oldest child Dessie worked as a secretary for Barnes Undertaking Company on Ogden Street in 1908. (The company also encompassed Barnes School of Anatomy, Sanitary Science and Embalming). Perhaps this is where she met Roy McCampbell, her future husband, who was an embalmer. Her brother Edward Odenbrett was best man at their wedding on 15 February 1909. Edward, and sister Dela, were sponsors for Dessie's first child, John Henry McCampell, who was born 21 January 1910 and baptized at St. Sylvester on February 6th.

In the 1910 census Henry, now 60, was a superintendent of a corset factory, and owned the home at 2714 Rhine Street. Still at home were Edward 25, who was an office clerk at a newspaper, Edelle 15, who was a stenographer for a tailor, and Esther, at 10 was still at school.

Matilda's brother Joseph was living next door with his family. Her mother Edesse moved in with the Odenbrett's after the death of her second husband in 1913, and was with them two years before she died in 1915.

In the 1914 and 1920 directories, John H. was a corset designer. Three children were still at home in 1914, including Edward who was a manager for a tire company. Dela worked as a stenographer on Market Street. The youngest, Esther was a teacher at a public school. Dessie, as Mrs. Edesse McCampbell, worked as secretary for "J & O corset co" that year.

Dela married Edward Boarini, a pharmacist, on 9 February 1915. In the 1920 census he stated he was a druggist with his own business, and they lived on North Springfield in Chicago. Boarini's Pharmacy was located on 548 West Division Street in Lincoln Park according to a 1916 ad.

Their Children

Also found in the 1920 census, Roy McCampbell, 36, born in Indiana, an embalmer, and Dessie, their two sons, John, 9, and Edward, 7, who was born in Washington. Since Dessie was listed in the 1914 Chicago directory, their time in Washington State must have been short. Perhaps they were visiting one of her uncles, Rocque or Paul. In any event, they were back in Chicago on Canton Street for this census.

Matilda's husband John Henry Odenbrett died the 12th of January 1928. Their son Edward passed away in 1943.

The McCampbell's moved to North Nordica Avenue in time for the 1930 census. And Dela Boarini's family, including her children Edward, 14, Edelle 9, Mary 5, James 4, Frances 2½, and John 1 month, lived on North Luna, also in Chicago.

Edward Boarini (father or son?) signed our ancestor Joseph Petelle's death certificate in 1940. In later years, Edward Boarini (the son) provided information to cousin Edward Petelle regarding the children of Narcisse and Edesse, and of Edesse's siblings in the Mondou branch of the family. That letter was written just a few months prior to his death in 1977.

Esther married Louis Cleary January 6, 1934 at St. Sylvester. After his death April 15, 1964, she married Leo Frederick later that year on November 24 at Our Lady of Mercy in Chicago.

Matilda remained active in St. Sylvester church for many years, even serving as host for a Christmas benefit in 1943. She passed away March 14, 1946 and was interred at St. Joseph cemetery.

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