The Odenheimer Family of Delaware County

Chester and Its Vicinity, by John Hill Martin (1877)

The following sketch of an old Chester family of a by-gone generation, some of whose descendants still cling to the home of their ancestors, was furnished me by a descendant.

"John Odenheimer, a former resident of 'Old Chester,' came from Mayence on the Rhine to Philadelphia, prior to the middle of the last century. He became a dealer in flour, and lived at the corner of Fifth and Market Streets, in the latter city, with open grounds around his house, planted with trees and shrubbery.

He married Mary, daughter of John Henry Keppele. On Sept. 28, 1771, he bought from Joseph Mather, 177 acres of land in Chester, lying along Ridley Creek. The deed recites one of the boundaries as 'The King's Highway.'

Here he opened stone quarries within easy reach of tidewater. After the first visit of the yellow-fever to Philadelphia, he became a permanent resident of Chester. His son John was Sheriff of Delaware County from 1798 to 1801, and again from 1804 to 1807, and died in 1816.

His son Henry married a daughter of William Kerlin, of Revolutionary note. His daughter Mary married Peter Deshong, of Chester, and his daughter Catharine married Thomas H. Brinton of Thornbury. Keppele often visited his son-in-law Odenheimer and his large family, at Chester.

The customs of their native country were kept up. Hock wines sent them from the Rhine, were in daily use; while a large silver punchbowl filled to the brim, with goblets and ladle, stood on a table for visitors making morning calls. Gen. Washington during his Presidential term, 1789 to 1797, was accustomed to pass through Chester on his way to Congress.

His journeys were recollected and spoken of by some of the Odenheimer family up to a recent period. They were attended with some state. A carriage with four horses and outriders contained his family, the general followed, mounted on a fine horse. He was a large man, with a grave, manly countenance, and was treated by the crowd collected to see him, with almost reverential respect.

Odenheimer died in Chester in 1807, above the age of fourscore. His wife died in 1793Both were buried in the grounds of the old Lutheran church of St. Michael's, corner of Fifth and Cherry streets, Philadelphia.

Most of his descendants became Episcopalians. His son Henry, m. Sarah, dau. of William Kerlin, and died at Chester in 1794, leaving two children, John W. and William Henry Odenheimer. The first became a merchant in Philadelphia, and after retiring from business, lived at Burlington, N. J., where he died July 4, 1876, in his 87th year.

He was the father of the Right Reverend William H. Odenheimer, Bishop of New Jersey.