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Operating bandage roller and knitting machine

Operating bandage roller and knitting machine

A caption for this photograph identifes the women in the forefront as Mrs. S.D. Flagg, at the bandage roller, and Miss Mary Morrissey, at the knitting machines, working in the Navy League Headquarters in St. Paul. Married women were often identified by their husband's first name, so when doing historical research, it can be difficult to track women such as Mrs. S.D. Flagg in records. 

The 1920 Minnesota census lists one man with the name S.D. Flagg: 81-year-old Samuel D. Flagg, who lived in St. Paul. His wife was Jane Flagg, age 48. Jane immigrated to the United States from England in 1890, at about age 18. She became a naturalized citizen in 1905 and married Samuel in 1906. He died in 1926 and is buried in his home state of New York, next to his first wife, Mary. After his death, Jane Flagg disappears from the historical record. She may have remarried, and with her name change, becomes more difficult to find.