A.T. Odom

Extremely honest and even-tempered, Alvah Troga Odom was born in 1893, the oldest child of Jimmie Odom and Roxie Brooks Odom. By the time he was sixteen years old, he and his sister, Almada, were responsible for raising the rest of their siblings, due to the untimely deaths of their parents. A.T. spent his entire life as a resident of Shankleville. During his adult life, he worked as an entrepreneurial farmer, carpenter and storekeeper. He also served on the community school board, as the superintendent of the Sunday School at Mount Hope Baptist Church, and as the Secretary of the Shankleville Homecoming. A.T. was an early narrator and proponent of "the Shankleville Story," as he helped to establish the Shankleville Homecoming, spearheaded the effort to erect the Shankleville Community Historical Marker, and is featured re-telling the story of his great-grandparents, Jim and Winnie Shankle, in "Rocking Texas' Cradle" by Ralph Ramos.

• A.T. Odom Shankleville Historical Society, Inc.
• Shankleville Historical Society
• Shankleville, Texas From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Shankleville history from toledo-bend.com Interview - from a speech given by A.T. Odom: "After slavery was abolished in 1866, a few men began to buy homes and settle down to go for themselves. The first was about four miles cast of Burkeville by Jim Shankle and his wife Winnie. Since that date down through the years, churches and schools were organized. About 1883 the famed McBride College was built. It stood until 1909.