Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Flagg, George W 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 3:49 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

GEORGE W. FLAGG, a well-known farmer and stockman residing in Plainfield, is a 
member of one of the earliest pioneer families in this village and was himself 
born here July 25, 1837. His father, Reuben, a native of Vermont, grew to 
manhood on a farm and learned the stone mason's trade in his youth. In that 
state he married Betsey Kendall, a woman of unusual business capacity and one 
well fitted to cope with the hardships of pioneer existence. After the birth 
of two children they sought a home in the then far west. When they arrived in 
Plainfield, in 1830, they found three white families here. The surroundings 
were those of primeval nature. Little  effort had been made to reclaim the 
land from its original wildness. Mr. Flagg took up a claim one mile south of 
Plainfield and settled on that place. At the land sale in 1836 he purchased 
one hundred and sixty acres one mile east of Plainfield; this property he 
improved and placed under cultivation, making of it a valuable farm. During 
the winter of 1831 he hauled the first hog ever taken to Chicago; it was 
during the progress of the first Methodist convention held in that city and 
the pork was presented to  an old preacher, Mr. Biggs, who lived there at the 
time. In 1833 he hauled from Plainfield to Chicago the lumber that was used in 
the construction of the first frame house in the latter city. During the Black 
Hawk war he enlisted under General Scott and served until the Indians were 
conquered. During the progress of the war his family remained for a time in 
the log fort at Plainfield, but subsequently went to Fort Dearborn, which 
afforded greater protection to the whites. When the war ended they returned to 
their cabin home. They were gratified to find, on their return, that, although 
there was an Indian village near by, the red men had shown a friendly spirit 
and had not stolen anything from them. During the existence of the Whig party 
Mr. Flagg upheld its principles. Upon its disintegration he identified himself 
with the Republican party. He held various local offices, and the county 
records show that he was the first justice of the peace in Plainfield, holding 
the office several years. He was fairly successful in life, and at his death, 
in 1871, left a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres. More than half of 
his life of sixty-nine years was spent in this county, and it was his 
privilege to witness the remarkable growth of the county and the development 
of its resources. His wife, who, like himself, was a Universalist in religious 
belief, died in Plainfield in 1876. Of their children the two born in Vermont, 
Kendall and Sarah, died in this county. Samantha, who was born in September, 
1830, was the first white child born in what was then Cook County, including 
all the land between Lake Michigan and Ottawa; she died when forty years of 
age. Prudence married David Holden and both are now deceased. Benjamin 
Franklin and Henry C. are deceased. William H. resides in Plainfield, N. Y.; 
Loraine, Mrs. James Radney, died in Iowa. Mary is deceased, and Lucy is the 
wife of Henry Howe, of Portland, Ore.

The sixth member of the family was George W., the subject of this sketch. He 
was reared amid the pioneer influences of this locality. At the breaking out 
of the Civil war he was determined to enlist in the Union army, and September, 
1861, found his name enrolled as first lieutenant of Company K, Eighth 
Illinois Cavalry, in which he served until the spring of 1862. The hardships 
of army life and its attending exposures brought on hemorrhage of the lungs 
and he was obliged to resign his commission, after having done some good 
service as guard in the vicinity of Alexandria. Realizing that the state of 
his health necessitated a change of climate, he went to Greeley, Colo., where 
he secured employment with Governor Eaton in herding cattle on the range 
between Denver and Cheyenne. For more than four years he  remained in the 
west. The outdoor exercise in the pure, invigorating air of Colorado restored 
him to health. On his return home he engaged in farming on a place he had 
purchased near Plainfield. From time to time he added to his place until he is 
now the owner of six hundred acres, comprising one of the finest farms in the 
county. Since 1872 he has made his home in the village, carrying on the farm 
with the aid of his son. Much of his attention is given to the buying and 
feeding of cattle, in which work he has been quite successful.

November 17,1861, Mr. Flagg married Miss M. A. Colgrove, daughter of Lester 
Colgrove, a farmer of this township. They have two sons, the older, George K., 
being a  farmer, and the younger, Jerome F., a grocer in Plainfield. Both in 
principle and in politics Mr. Flagg is a stanch Prohibitionist and gives his 
influence toward the progress of that party. He is connected with the Grand 
Army Post in his home town. Mr. Flagg owes his prosperity to industry and 
frugality, and the lessons of his life are worth emulating by the younger 
generation.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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