Thomas Coultas Tagg (1838-1919)

Thomas Coultas Tagg (1838-1919) was the only known child of Thomas R. and Mary Coultas Tagg to have been born in England. He and his parents emigrated to the United States in 1843/44 and after a few years in Charleston, Charleston Co., South Carolina made the trek to the new state of Wisconsin. At twelve he was working with his father on the family farm in Portland Township, Dodge Co., Wisconsin. With his siblings, he continued to work the farm after his father's death (between 1860-67).

Thomas joined the Wisconsin Volunteers toward the end of the Civil War. He was mustered into Company B of the 44th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. The regiment had been quickly mobilized in October and November 1864 and sent to Tennessee where they fought in the Battle of Nashville (Dec 15-16 1864). The 44th WI Regiment was assigned to garrison and guard duty at Nashville. This is likely when Thomas C. Tagg joined the regiment. On 3 April 1865 (shortly before Gen. Lee's surrender) the 44th was reassigned to Paducah, Kentucky as part of the Department of Kentucky. The regiment was disbanded and its soldiers mustered out at Paducah on 28 August 1865.

While stationed in Kentucky, Thomas met Mary Mary Elizabeth Bodine (1841-1926) and within a year after the war they were married in Lee Center, Lee Co., Illinois on 8 Feb 1866. Mary's sister Maria Jane Bodine also married on the same day in Lee Center. Mary Elizabeth and Maria Jane were the daughters of Vincent Bodine (1817-1854) and Sarah Magdelene Jorolemon (1820-1873). Thomas and his new family went back to Portland, Wisconsin where they saw the birth of their oldest child Harry Eugene Tagg (1867-1910). Thomas and family moved to Holden, Johnson Co., Missouri in 1868 and soon saw the birth of their second child Jennie B. Tagg (1868-1954). Its likely his mother Mary and younger siblings made the move to Holden at the same time. His mother Mary, sisters Mary A. & Fannie and brother Walter are found in Holden in 1870. Thomas and his family had made their way back to Lee Co., Illinois and can be found farming in the 1870 U.S. Census along with the birth of a new son, Arthur Willard Tagg (1870-1955). Thomas' twelve year old brother Herbert was also helping work the farm. Within a year of Arthur's birth, Thomas and family were on the move again.

President Lincoln signed into law the Homestead Act of 1862 which opened up undeveloped land in the American West. For a small filing fee a person could homestead on 160 acres and if they build a house, made improvements and lived on the land for five years it was theirs. Thomas took advantage of the opportunity and homesteaded 160 acres in New York Township, York Co., Nebraska. Its believed the Taggs made the journey from Illinois by covered wagon a trip of approximately six weeks. In 1871 the farthest west the railroad track ran was Lincoln Nebraska. The Taggs lived in a sod house during their homesteading years. Their youngest sons, George Athol Tagg (1872-1893) and William Bodine Tagg (1875- ) where born during while homesteading. During these years they had to deal with with great storms, grasshopper invasions, Indian visits, and the fear of great herds from Texas.. Despite the hardships, they were able to turn their sod house into a comfortable home as the following visitor remembers:

We "continued our journey, to pull up about sundown at the hospitable home of our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Tagg, where we found a good supper and a warm welcome awaiting us. Here was a sod house, consisting of three good-sized rooms, a carpeted floor, plastered walls, and many of the comforts, and even luxuries, of civilization. Here we rested and visited over Sunday."

Mrs. W. E. Morgan
Recollections of a Pioneer Pastor's Woman
York County Nebraska Old Settlers History (1913)

The small York County settlement of "Waco was an out-growth of the railroad and sprang up as a market town." Lewis Inbody (Thomas Tagg's son Harold's future father in-law), operated a blacksmith shop before the village was laid out and was the first to do business in the new town. In 1877 the railroad had made it to Waco and Thomas sold his New York Township farm and purchased 160 acres on the east side of Waco and along the railroad. He commenced buying grain and shipped the first car load later in 1877 upon completion of the tracks to the town of York. "Competition was much alive in those days, as buyers would go into the country and meet the farmers who were on the way to market and bid on their products." By 1889, the Taggs had expanded the business to that of buying live stock as well as grain. In 1900, Thomas was operating Waco's general store. York County would remain their home for twenty eight years before the Taggs retired to Omaha, Douglas Co., Nebraska where his sons were becoming successful in the live stock trading business. In 1919, Thomas passed away at the age of 81. Mary followed seven years later. Both are buried in Waco Cemetery.

Harry Eugene Tagg (1876-1910), was Thomas & Mary's oldest child.  He married Nellie A. Inbody (1870- ) circa 1893, the daughter of Lewis (1845-1921) and Lucy A Richards Inbody (1848-1938).  Harry followed in his fathers footsteps, first as a farmer in Lawrence, Marion Co., Indiana (1900) then in the live stock business in Omaha Nebraska.  In 1902, South Omaha stood up a new troop of Cavalry in which Lieutenant Harry E. Tagg was one of the three commissioned officers. Harry was the Manager of the McCloud-Love Live Stock Commission until his death in 1910 at the age of 43.  Harry E. Tagg's Obituary states his funeral was one of the largest and most impressive in the history of South Omaha.  Both Harry & Nellie Tagg's sons served in World War I with the youngest, Lowell passing away shortly after the war while still in uniform ("Her Men all Soldiers"). Their oldest son Harold became a chiropractic doctor and in 1930 can be seen in Schuyler, Colfax Co., Nebraska in a joint practice with his mother Nellie Tagg. Harold is referenced in the Who's Who of Nebraska (1940).

 Jennie B. Tagg (1868-1954) married Dexter David Ashley (1864-1949), son of William David (1834-1912) and Adeline Dunn Carpenter Ashley (1836-1907). Dexter became a noted orthopedic surgeon settling in Manhattan, New York Co., New York. After Thomas Tagg's death, Mary had moved in with her daughter Jennie in New York City. Jennie and Dexter lived there retirement years on their "Ashley Acres" farm near Winchester Center, Litchfield Co., Connecticut. Jennie Tagg Ashley passed away in 1954.

Arthur Willard Tagg (1870-1955) married Sarah circa 1896. Arthur, along with his two brothers Harry and William started the "Tagg Brothers Live Stock Commission" at the Union Stock Yards in Omaha. The Tagg Brothers were prominent in the live stock business and in the Omaha community. They were even a party in a U.S. Supreme Court decision on the U.S. government's authority to set allowable live stock trading commissions (Tagg Bros. & Moorhead v. U. S., 280 U.S. 420 (1930)).

Arthur Tagg passed away in 1955 at the age of 84 and is buried back in York Co., Nebraska.

George Athol Tagg (1872-1893) died in 1893 at the age of 21. He suffered from Downs Syndrome.

William Bodine Tagg (1875-1936) married May Leonard (ca 1880-1947). William and his brother Arthur started their own live stock trading company in Omaha, Nebraska. May Tagg's life was almost cut short when her furnace exploded in 1916 (Burned but Saved Own Life).  Both William and May Tagg's sons served as officers in World War I. Richard served in the Army while his younger brother William served in the Navy. William was to eventually rise to the rank of Rear Admiral. The book Omaha: The Gate City and Douglas County, Nebraska (1917) provides a short biographical sketch for W.B. Tagg.

Attachments

• Thomas & Mary Tagg Celebrated Golden Wedding; Sunday World Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, 6 Feb 1916, page 2

• Omaha: The Gate City and Douglas County, Nebraska (Volume II), S.J. Clarke Publishing Company (Chicago : 1917)

• "Harry Tagg at Rest," Omaha World Herald, 21 Apr 1910, page 3

• "Her Men All Soldiers, This Mother is Proud," Omaha World Herald, 13 Apr 1917, page 5

• Location of Thomas C. Tagg's Original 1871 Homestead - Waco . (1871 homestead is highlighted)
• 1889 Land Atlas - York County Nebraska (Waco). (Thomas C. Tagg's land is highlighted)
• Mrs Tagg Burned But Saves Own Life By Quick Action, Omaha Evening World-Herald, 14 Apr 1916

Principal References

• Thomas C. Tagg (44 WI Infantry B Company), Application 929929; Cert 714761, filed from Nebraska, Civil War Pension Application File (Washington DC: National Archives).
• Thomas C. Tagg (44 WI Infantry B Company), Civil War Military Service Record (Washington DC: National Archives).
• Cradle Days in York County, Nebraska, A Compilation of Historical Sketches First Published in the York Republican (York Nebraska, 1937)
• The Greater York Area Genealogical Society, The History of York County Nebraska (Dallas Texas : Curtis Media Corporation, 1988)
• William Edward Johnson, Who's Who in Colfax County, Nebraska (Lincoln Nebraska: Nebraska Press Association, 1940), transcribed by Sherri Brakenhoff.
• 1850-1930 U.S. Census Enumerations
• Omaha World Herald newspaper (various issues)
• York County Historical Association, York, Nebraska. Valuable research assistance provided in 2002.  [last checked Jul 2011]

Emma Tagg (1947-1865)

Emma Tagg (1847-1865) was born in South Carolina (probably Charleston) in December 1847.  Her family moved to Wisconsin in 1850 where she spent most of her childhood in Portland Township, Dodge Co., Wisconsin.  Emma died days short of her eighteenth birthday and is buried in the Methodist Cemetery in Portland, Dodge Co., Wisconsin.

Principal References:

• 1850-1860 U.S. Census Enumerations
• FindaGrave.com

Alfred Ringrose Tagg (1849-1933)

Alfred Ringrose Tagg (1849-1933) was born in Charleston, Charleston Co., South Carolina within months before his family made the trek out to Wisconsin. In 1870, the twenty-two year old Alfred is working as a farm laborer in Bradford Township, Lee Co., Illinois. His brothers, Thomas, George and Herbert were nearby farming as well. In 1874 Alfred Ringrose Tagg married Harriet Caroline Barker (1849-1915) in Lee Center. After their marriage, the newly married couple moved to Chicago. In 1879, Alfred and his brother Edwin C. Tagg started the "Tagg Brothers Shirt Company" focused on made-to-measure shirts which they sold in their own retail store. The fledgling business was to become a successful one selling merchandise in over thirty-seven states. But in 1880 Alfred and his family, which now included Carolyn Emma Tagg (1875-1968) and Oliver Milton Tagg (1877-1902), were living with his mother-in-law Caroline L.Barker (ca 1804- ). Alfred and Harriet's were to have three more children, Florence May Tagg (1881-1884), Alfred Russell Tagg (1884-1967) and Harriet Grace Tagg (1889-1966).  Sometime in the 1890s, Alfred turned the reigns of the company over to his brothers and moved to San Bernardino, San Bernardino Co., California where he became a "dairyman." Harriet passed away in 1915 and Alfred moved to Los Angeles County. He passed away in 1933 in South Pasadena.

Attachments

• "Tagg Brothers" (page 133), Origin, Growth, and Usefulness of the Chicago Board of Trade, Its Leading Members, and Representative Business Men in Other Branches of Trade, Historical Publishing Company (New York : 1885-6)

Principal References

• Family Bible of Alfred R. Tagg and Harriet C. Barker, Family History Library, 35 N. West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA 84150 (FHL US/CAN Film 1698051 Item 78 (filmed 1994)).
• 1850-1930 U.S. Census Enumerations

Edwin C. Tagg (1851-1919)

Edwin C. Tagg (1851-1919) was born in Wisconsin shortly after the Taggs started farming in Portland Township, Dodge Co., Wisconsin. He appears to have stayed with the farm the longest and can be seen working it in the 1870 after the rest of his family had moved to Holden, Jackson Co., Missouri and Lee Co., Illinois. Edwin moved to Chicago and with his brother Albert started the "Tagg Brothers Shirt Company" in 1879. He appears to have worked the sales side and can be seen traveling to nearby states and setting up shirt orders. In 1883, he married Hattie F. Pray (1857-1848) in New Haven, Shiawassee, Michigan. Hattie was the daughter of L.W. Pray (ca 1815- ) and Harriet Brown. Hattie's younger brother Professor Theron B. Pray (ca 1849- ) became the first President of the Wisconsin State Normal School (later to become the University of Wisconsin at Steven's Point). He oversaw the construction of the school and served as its Chancellor from 1894-1906.

Like his brother Albert, Edwin retired from the shirt manufacturing business, moved to the west coast and started another venture. In 1910, Edwin and Hattie are fruit farming in Kennewick, Benton Co., Washington. Edwin's sister, Mary Tagg King also settled in Kennewick about the same time. Edwin appears to have continued farming in Kennewick until his death sometime prior to 1920. In 1920. Hattie is widowed and still working the farm. Edwin and Hattie did not have children.

Attachment(S)

• "Tagg Brothers" (page 133), Origin, Growth, and Usefulness of the Chicago Board of Trade, Its Leading Members, and Representative Business Men in Other Branches of Trade, Historical Publishing Company (New York : 1885-6)

Principal References

• Portrait Biographical Album of Clinton and Shiawassee Counties, Michigan (Chicago Illinois: Chapman Bros., 1891)
• 1850-1930 U.S. Census Enumerations

George Albert Tagg (1852-1934)

George Albert Tagg (1852-1934) was born in Wisconsin (probably on the Portland farm) and presumably moved with his mother when they left Wisconsin for Holden, Johnson Co., Missouri. In the summer of 1870 and at the age of seventeen, George is yet another son farming in Lee Co., Illinois. George is working as a farm laborer in the town of China. In 1880, George is back in Holden, Missouri working in the household of a retired merchant. George marries Jennie Pilgrim in Chicago in 1882. George and Jennie's oldest known child, Arthur G. Tagg (1883-1946) was born at the end of 1883 and before the family moved out to the Dakota Territory to farm a 160 acre homestead and to cultivate timber on another 160 acres (Timber Cultivation Act). Their next two known children, Emma G. Tagg (ca 1885- ) and Della May Tagg (1888-1972) are the last to be born before the territory was granted statehood. Frances Elizabeth Tagg (1890- ) was born in the state of South Dakota and shortly before they moved to Waco, York Co., Nebraska where they stayed until after George's mother's passing in 1892. Lawrence Roy Tagg (1893-1987) was born in Waco and shortly before their return to Sully Co., South Dakota where Edna L. Tagg (ca 1896- ) and Elmer P. Tagg (1899- ) were born. While Lawrence was the born out of state, he would go on to serve four years in the South Dakota Legislative House (1923-26).

Sometime before 1920, George and Jennie Pilgrim Tagg retired to Montrose, Montrose Co., Colorado. George passed away in 1934 and Jennie fifteen years later in 1949.

Attachments

• Tagg Homesteads, Sully Co., Dakota Territory

Principal References

• 1860-1920 U.S. Census Enumerations
• Federal Land Entry File (Timber Culture), Sully Co., South Dakota (range 77, township 115, section 17), 15 Dec 1894, NARA, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408.
• First Presbyterian Church Records, Holden Missouri, 1866-1885, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA 84150 (FHL US/CAN Film 912127 Item 4)

Mary A. Tagg (1855-1934)

Mary A. Tagg (1855-1934) moved to Holden, Johnson Co., Missouri with her mother. She married William George King (1852-after 1930) in 1873. They appear to have remained in Johnson Co., Missouri until shortly after 1880. William worked as a railroad agent and insurance & real estate agent all while looking after his 320 acres of lands and farms. They can be found living in Waco, York Co., Nebraska in 1892 but by 1900 had moved to Wilmette Village, Cook Co., Illinois (about 15 miles north of Chicago) where William is working as a grocer. Another 10 years, the children are grown and William is back to working in Insurance and Real Estate as an "operator." This time they're out in Kennewick, Benton Co., Washington where they appear to have stayed.

William and Mary King had three known children. The oldest child was Irene C. King (1878-1970) who married Doctor Thomas M. Gairdner M.D. circa 1900. Thomas would practice medicine in Waco Nebraska for forty years. After Thomas' death in 1933, Irene moved out to Los Angeles, California where she passed away in 1970. Their children included a hospital chief of staff and a prominent attorney.
The second known child, Clarence E. King (ca 1881-1943) married Inez (ca 1896- ). Before his marriage, Clarence was working as a clerk in a grocery store. He likely married in Illinois and then migrated out to Kennewick, Washington with his parents. In 1920, Clarence has a job as head clerk with Washington Power & Light. Ten years later, Clarence is the proprietor of a drug store. Clarence died in Benton Co., Washington in 1943.

The youngest known child, is Irma L. King (ca 1884- ).  Nothing is known of her after 1900 when she's 15 years old and living with her parents in Wilmette, Illinois.

Principal References

• History of Johnson County, Missouri (Kansas City, Missouri: Kansas City Historical Company, 1881)
• 1860-1930 U.S. Census Enumerations
• First Presbyterian Church Records, Holden Missouri, 1866-1885, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA 84150 (FHL US/CAN Film 912127 Item 4)

Herbert Eugene Tagg (1857-1935)

Herbert Eugene Tagg (1857-1935) was born in Wisconsin (probably on the Portland farm) and presumably moved with his mother when they left Wisconsin for Holden, Johnson Co., Missouri. In 1870 and at the age of twelve, Herbert is helping work Thomas' farm in Lee Center, Lee Co., Illinois. Herbert married Henrietta Theodosia Oates in Johnson Co., Missouri in 1878. Henrietta was the daughter of Richard (ca 1836- ) and Minnie Tagg (ca 1839- ). The new couple headed west to Buckeye, Dickinson Co., Kansas where Herbert worked his own farm. They moved to the Dakota Territory before there son's birth in 1889. Herbert became one of the "early residents in Sully County" where he homesteaded a 166 acre farm. In 1900 he's operating a dairy farm. Herbert and Henrietta's only known child, Richard Eugene Tagg was born in Sully Co., South Dakota on 17 Nov 1889. His birth was only twelve day's after the creation of the state of South Dakota. By 1906, Herbert moved to the nearby town of Highmore in Hyde Co., South Dakota. Herbert, Henrietta and son Richard owned and operated the hotel which Herbert had dubbed 'The Farmer's Friend." Like most of his siblings, Herbert and family ended up heading west. Sometime prior to 1920, they moved out to Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California where Herbert was a salesman for an Oil Company and his son Richard worked as a Machine Tools Clerk. Herbert Eugene Tagg passed away in Los Angeles on 30 Mar 1935. Henrietta passed away the following January.

Attachments

• Tagg Homesteads, Sully Co., Dakota Territory

Principal References

• John B. Perkins, History of Hyde County, South Dakota - From its Organization to the Present Time (1908)
• 1860-1930 U.S. Census Enumerations

Walter Varian Tagg (1859-   )

Walter Varian Tagg (ca 1859- ) was born in Wisconsin and as a child moved to Holden, Johnson Co., Missouri with his mother. When Walter left home he joined his brothers in Chicago. In 1880, at age 21, Walter appears to be working with his brothers and learning the trade as a "shirt cutter." Walter married Clara E. Stone (1861-1942) in 1891 in Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois. Clara was born in Chicago was a teacher in its public schools for many years. Walter became an active partner in the Tagg Shirt Company and its President after his brother's Edwin and Albert released the reigns. Walter moved the company to Sioux City, Woodbury Co., Iowa in 1914/5. He enlarged the product line and saw the sales region grow to include towns in thirty-seven states. Walter and Clara's three known children were all born in Illinois. Their son's Elyn Stone Tagg (1893- ) and Walter Clifford Tagg (ca 1900- ) became the third generations of Taggs to work and run the shirt company.

Principal References

• John D. Adams, Three Quarters of a Century of Progress (1848-1923), A Brief Pictorial and Commercial History of Sioux City, Iowa (Sioux City, Iowa: Verstegen Printing Co., 1923)
• 1860-1930 U.S. Census Enumerations

Fannie L. Tagg (1861-1937)

Fannie L. Tagg (1861-1937) is the youngest known child of Thomas R. and Mary Coultas Tagg. She was born in 1861 in Wisconsin and as a young child saw the death of her father and remarriage of her mother. Fannie moved with her mother to Holden, Jackson Co., Missouri (before 1870) and then moved out to Sully Co. in the Dakota Territory in Oct 1885. The following month she erected a 10 x 12 foot gable shingled house on federal land along the Okobojo Creek and only 3/4 mile from her mother's farm. The next year, as a single 25 year old, she filed a land claim using the Federal Preemption Law which permitted squatters to purchase federal land at a very low price before it was offered to the public. Fannie paid $100 for her rough and broken 80 acres. While she planted 5 acres of millet, she primarily used the land for grazing cattle. Fannie also claimed 160 acres of land under the Timber Culture Act. Shortly after filing the claims Fannie married married Isaac N. Van Alen (1854-1919) in Sully County in 1886. Their oldest child, Mary "Ethel" Van Alen (1888- ) was born in the Dakota Territory (Sully County). In 1889 the Van Alen family moved to Waco, York Co., Nebraska where Isaac worked at the grain elevator with his brother-in-law, William G. King (spouse of Mary Ann Tagg King). The grain elevator had been previously owned and operated by another brother-in-law, Thomas C. Tagg. After working at the grain elevator he he went into the "implement business" with Thomas C. Tagg. Isaac and Fannie's youngest daughter Hazel Van Alen (1891- ) was born in 1891 while they lived in Waco. Isaac went back to farming near Waco but the "dry seasons of the early 90's proved so disastrous to farmers in that neighborhood that he was compelled to relinquish the place." In 1900 he's renting a farm in the same York Co., Nebraska township (New York township) as Thomas C. Tagg's family had homesteaded almost thirty years prior. After a bit of time they were able to purchase and farm 20 acres of land in Gresham (Steward Township in the north east corner of York County).

After Isaac's death in 1919 . Fannie moved out to San Bernardino, San Bernardino California and is living with her daughter Ethel (ca 1888- ) in 1930. Fannie Tagg Van Alen passed away in San Bernardino in 1937 but was buried back in Waco, York Co., Nebraska.

Attachments

• Tagg Homesteads, Sully Co., Dakota Territory
• Isaac N. Van Alen Biography -- T. E. Sedgwick, editor, York County Nebraska and its People (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1921).

Principal References

• Federal Land Entry File (Pre-Emption), Sully Co., South Dakota (range 77, township 115, section 21), 24 Sep 1889, NARA, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408
• 1870-1930 U.S. Census Enumerations