Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Jabez William Flavel was born Oct. 4, 1828 in Haddenham, Cambridgeshire, England, and was baptized Jan. 27, 1829. His parents were William Flavel (1776-1838) and Elizabeth Anderson Flavel (1793-1867).

When he was 23 years old, Jabez William Flavel arrived at New York on Dec. 4, 1850 from Liverpool on the ship Washington from Great Britain.

In an undated story by Gertrude M. Flavel Rice about her grandparents Jabez and Agnes Wilson Flavel (1827-1916), Jabez came from England to visit her [Sarah] and lived there with her working at various things. Jabez nursed Edward Ruston’s brother, Richard (1808-1900) who needed care. Richard was very old. Eventually, Jabez worked at logging, on boats and other jobs. He finally took homestead in Rice County, where he was a settler-colonist in Minnesota.

According to Gertrude M. Flavel Rice, Agnes Wilson, her mother Margaret Fulton Wilson (1794-1856) and brother, James Wilson (1833-1911), had moved to Wheatland, Minnesota where her brother, Will Wilson and his wife, Nellie Goodge Wilson had a homestead. They were moving from St. Paul to Wheatland when they drove by Jabez’s homestead. According to the granddaughter, “The first time Grandma saw him, he was sitting on his claim shanty making the roof.”

In Belle Plaine and Other Towns (1882) “About the same time (Fall 1854) Wm. Flavell and John Anderson arrived in Credit River, the former locating in the south-east quarter of section 19, and the latter in the north-east quarter of section 18.” According to the Scott County Historical Society, the post office was the first municipal building in 1856. It was initially called the New Dublin Post Office. The early Irish families claimed land through the Homestead Act or the Territorial Land Act. All this land had been claimed by 1870. The European American settler-colonists in the northern part of the township were almost exclusively Irish, according to the Scott County Historical Society. In 1870, as the land had been “claimed,” records show that the township was 2/3 Irish and 95% Catholic.

When Margaret died, Jabez and Agnes Wilson married on Aug. 22, 1856 in Credit River, Minnesota. They were farmers in Wheatland, Minnesota. They had three children in Wheatland: Mary Margaret Maggie Flavell (1858-1932); Robert Flavel (1859-1928); and Sarah F. Flavel (1860-1949). They lived in Wheatland until Sarah was 3 1/2 years old. (Sarah later married Frank Cole). Jabez, Agnes, and Sarah moved to a new log house on Will and Nellie’s farm in Spring Lake, where Alexander Eck Flavel (1861-1934).

Agnes’s brother, Will, and Jabez joined the Civil War, and were there until 1865. Jabez joined Company H, 11th Regiment of Minnesota Volunteer Infantry.

According to MNopedia’s “Eleventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment,” the Eleventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, organized in late 1864, was the last infantry unit to be raised by the state. It was formed in response to President Abraham Lincoln’s last call for troops. The officers and men were organized and mustered into service at Fort Snelling in August and September of 1864.

The men initially were issued no weapons and had to borrow muskets from the fort. “By late September the regiment was full, with just over a thousand officers and men. On September 20, 1864 the regiment departed First Snelling and marched to St. Paul lower levee. Here, while waiting for the boats that would take them south, the men finally received their arms and accoutrements.

“Due to the Mississippi’s low water level, the Eleventh’s officers traveled to La Crosse on a very small steamboat with a shallow draft. The enlisted men went downriver on two large, uncovered barges. At La Crosse, the regiment took the railroad to Chicago. The regiment remained in Chicago for just over a week, and then headed towards Nashville.

“The Louisville and Nashville was a major conduit for troops and supplies for the Union Army of the Cumberland. Therefore, the Eleventh Minnesota was tasked with the important job of guarding the railroad against attacks by Confederate guerrillas. The men spent the following winter on picket, guard duty, and patrol…By November of 1864 the railroad was operating at full capacity, with troop and supply trains constantly running to Nashville. During the battles of Franklin and Nashville, cannonading was distinctly heard all along the Eleventh’s section of railroad. Some curious members of the regiment even managed to witness part of the Nashville battle.”

“On June 26, 1865, the Seventh Minnesota started for home. The regiment arrived at St. Paul on July 5 and was mustered out of service on July 11. Throughout its service, the Eleventh lost three enlisted men killed, and one officer and twenty-one enlisted men died of disease.”

Other children were born in Spring Lake, including William Henry (1865-1929) and James Flavell (1867-1878).

They family also lived in Shakopee. When the three boys, William, Robert Bob Flavel, and Alexander Eck Favel (1861-1934) got married, Agnes and the three sons (and wives) took homesteads at Hewitt, Minnesota. Later, Robert and Alexander moved to Washington state because of health, and to get away from the cold winter. Jabez did not go to Washington because he promised Agnes that he would stay in Minnesota.

Jabez died March 20, 1896. He was 67 years old. He was buried at Valley Cemetery in Shakopee.

After Jabez died, Agnes moved to Minneapolis, where she stayed with her daughter and her family.

Agnes went to live at Wahkon on Mille Lacs Lake with her daughter, Sarah Flavel Cole, and died there Dec. 28, 1916 at age 89. She was buried in Mile Lacs County.

The last widow pension check, given to widows from the Civil War, was returned to the federal government after she died.