Son of James Madison Flake and Agnes Haley Love

Married - Lucy Hannah White, 30 Dec 1858, Cedar City, Iron, Utah
Children - James Madison Flake, William Melvin Flake, Charles Love Flake, Samuel Orson Flake, Mary Agnes Flake, Osmer Dennis Flake, Lucy Jane Flake, Wilford Jordan Flake, George Burton Flake, Roberta Flake, Joel White Flake, John Taylor Flake, Melissa Flake

Married - Prudence Jane Kartchner, 10 Oct 1868, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Children - Sarah Emma Flake, Lydia Pearl Flake, Joseph Franklin Flake, Margaret Jane Flake, Mark Augustus Flake, Willmirth East Flake, Annabelle Flake

History - William Flake was born in North Carolina. William Flake eventually moved to Mississippi with his family and in the early 1840s became members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Flake moved to Utah with his parents in 1849 by wagon train.

In 1850, his father was killed while examining a colony site in California. His widowed mother took the family and became one the earliest residents of San Bernardino.

In 1858, William Flake married Lucy Hannah White and a year later started a cattle ranch in Beaver, Utah. Flake was called by Church leaders to enter into a plural marriage. He asked his wife to consider the decision, and after much prayer and consideration, she agreed. William Flake and Prudence Kartchner were married in 1868.

In 1877, he was called by LDS Church President Brigham Young to start a settlement in the northern area of what was then the Arizona Territory. William left with a wagon train and herds of cattle for the Little Colorado River region of Arizona and arrived in January 1878. Despite much hardship after spending 13 months on the trail and a winter living in stables and wagons, the settlement survived.

In the fall of 1878, Erastus Snow, an LDS Apostle, visited and joined with Flake naming the town Snowflake: "Snow for me and Flake for you." Flake became a rancher and prominent cattleman, noted for his generosity and assistance to his neighbors.

In 1883, Flake was imprisoned in the Yuma Territorial Prison for a short time for unlawful cohabitation, a common charge used to prosecute LDS men under the Edmunds Act. After his release, he was asked which of his wives he was going to give up. He replied, "Neither. I married both in good faith and intended to support both of them." He had served his sentence and could not be retried on the same charges.

William Jordan Flake had 11 sons and 9 daughters, and lived to the age of 93, passing away on August 10, 1932 in Snowflake, Arizona. When he died, the flag at the Arizona State Capitol was flown at half staff in honor of his contribution to the settlement of the state.