Flagg, Minnie C. (Dressel) 1862-1937

6-1/2 in

4-1/4 in

From A Twentieth Century History of Allegan County, Michigan By Henry F. Thomas JOHN A. FLAGG [1865-1952] is a prosperous farmer and fruit grower of Saugatuck township, having here a farm comprising eighty acres, which is situated two and a half miles south of Douglas, his postoffice address being Fennville, and which in its neat and well-kept appearance indicates the progressive and practical methods of the owner. He is a native son of this township. his natal day being September 4, 1865. His parents, John L. and Roxie ( Wright) Flagg, the former a native of Canada, and the latter of New York State, located in Michigan in 1865, and the father purchased a tract of forty acres in Saugatuck township, which at that time was in its virgin state. The father at once set to work to clear and develop his land and has today a well improved and valuable property on which he and his wife are residing at the present time, in 1906. Their family numbers four sons and two daughters, namely: Mrs. Edith Mist, James B., John A., Lafayette, Anna E. and Frank. John A. Flagg, whose name introduces this record, was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with the methods of carrying on the work of field and meadow, and the school at Douglas afforded him his educational advantages. In 1887, when a young man of twenty-two years, he started out to make his own way in the business world, possessing no capital, but with a strong determination to succeed, and, allowing no obstacles to deter him in his onward march toward the goal of prosperity, he has worked his way steadily up year by year until today his farm indicates the accomplishment of his well-formed plans. His first purchase was a tract of twenty acres, on which his house stands. He began here on a small scale, but by close application and careful management acquired a competence that in 1902 enabled him to add a second tract of twenty acres, and in 1906 he added still another tract, this time making a purchase of forty acres, so that his farm now embraces eighty acres of the finest improved land in Allegan county. He conducts general farming on a small scale, but gives the greater part of his time to the cultivation of fruit, having twenty-five acres devoted to peaches, and in addition he has one hundred apple trees, seven-five pear trees, one hundred cherry trees and two acres devoted to the raising of strawberries, and in all his work he follows the most scientific methods, so that the best results are produced. Mr. Flagg has been blessed with a most able assistant through his marriage to Miss Minnie C. Dressell, the wedding ceremony being performed on the I4th of January, 1895. Mrs. Flagg is a native of Ganges township, this county, and a daughter of A. W. and Margaret Dressell, both natives of Germany. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children, but only one is now living, Garland A., who was born in 1898. Mr. Flagg is an exemplary member of Dutcher Lodge, No. 193, F. & A. M., in which he is serving as senior deacon. Mr. Flagg's success in life might well serve as an example to young men of enterprise and industry, for it shows what may be accomplished if one has the will and determination to succeed, and to his estimable wife is due much credit, for she has been to him a faithful companion and helpmate, sharing with him in all the arduous work that he has undertaken so that in their declining days they may be in possession of a competence that will enable them to rest from the arduous cares of life.