Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Flagg, George W 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 2, 2008, 3:03 am

Author: Past & Present Will County, 1907

George W. Flagg, a worthy representative of an honored pioneer family of Will 
county, was born on the 25th of July, 1836, in Plainfield township, and 
continues to make his home in that locality, though at one time he spent about 
four years in the west. He is the sixth in order of birth in a family of 
eleven children, whose parents were Reuben and Betsy (Kendall) Flagg. It was 
in 1830 that they emigrated from Vermont to Illinois, arriving at Walkers' 
Grove, Will county, in June of that year, when this region was wild and 
unimproved, the Indians being far more numerous than the white settlers. The 
father took up a claim in what is now known as the Frazier woods and erected 
thereon a log cabin just across the river from Big Bluffs, where a part of a 
tribe of Pottawattamie Indians were living until the Black Hawk war, their 
chief being Parto. Reuben Flagg dug the mill race for Walkers' second mill, 
for which work he received thirty dollars, and he hauled the lumber to build 
the first frame houses in Chicago, doing this with ox teams. When the family 
received news of the Indian uprising during the Black Hawk war they and their 
neighbors gathered at Fort Beggs, which was situated just south of what is now 
the village of Plainfield, remaining there until they had built a stockade. A 
company of Scott's cavalry that was passing from Ottawa to Chicago then 
escorted those who had gathered there to Fort Dearborn. When peace was once 
more restored the Flagg family returned to their cabin home to find things 
just as they had left them, although the Indians had used the cabin in their 
absence. At that time the family consisted of father, mother, one son and two 
daughters, one of these being Samantha E., who was the first white child born 
in Will county. She was born September 9, 1830, and died February 25, 1872. 
Other children were added to the family and three are still living, namely: 
George W., of this review; William H., who resides on the old homestead in 
Plainfield township; and Mrs. Lucy N. Hedges, a resident of Bend, Oregon. Amid 
frontier environments George W. Flagg grew to manhood, and he can relate many 
interesting incidents of those pioneer days. He acquired a good practical 
education in the early schools of the county, though they were much inferior 
to those of the present time, and as soon as old enough to be of any 
assistance he began to aid in the development and improvement of the farm. 
Through-out his active business life he has followed farming and stock-raising 
and has met with marked success in his undertakings, becoming the owner of six 
hundred and fifty acres of fine farming land in this county. He devotes 
considerable attention to the feeding of stock for the market and finds this a 
profitable source of income. For some years he has been the largest tax payer 
in Plainfield township. In 1861, at the inauguration of the Civil war, Mr. 
Flagg entered the service of his country, first enlisting for three months as 
a member of the Plainfield Artillery and was stationed at Cairo, Illinois, 
assisting in blockading that place. Later he joined Company K, Eighth Illinois 
Cavalry, which was sent to Virginia and during the winter of 1861-2 patrolled 
the city of Alexandria. Mr. Flagg was made first lieutenant of his company, 
but was discharged in 1862 on account of ill health. In 1872 he went west and 
was employed as head stock foreman on ex-Governor Eaton's range in northern 
Colorado until 1876, when he resigned his position and returned to Plainfield. 
On the 17th of September, 1861, Mr. Flagg was united in marriage to Miss 
Marada Colgrove, who was born in Wheatland township. May 27, 1842, and was the 
oldest of the five children born to Lester and Lucretia (Ingersoll) Colgrove. 
For over forty-five years they traveled life's journey together but the wife 
was called to her final rest October 27, 1905. Two sons were born to them. 
George K., the elder, wedded Miss Mary Needham and has three children, George, 
Fitzgerald and Marjorie. Jerome F. married Miss Luella Piatt and they have two 
children, Alta and Lois. The sons now operate the farm for their father. He is 
connected with the Grand Army of the Republic and is a prominent member of the 
Will County Pioneer Association. During his long residence here he has become 
widely and favorably known and he stands high in public regard.

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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