Note 21 — {271} THE JOURNAL

George Flower, born about 1780, was an Englishman of means who emigrated to America in 1816 in search of the famed prairies of Illinois, of which so much was being said. Visiting the Middle West in that year, he returned to Virginia and spent the winter, chiefly with Thomas Jefferson, to whom he had letters of introduction from Lafayette. In 1817, Morris Birkbeck arrived, and, as the two were old friends, Flower joined Birkbeck's movement and took part in founding the "English settlement." In 1818, on returning from a voyage to England, Flower was accompanied by his father (Richard, who wrote the letters reprinted in this volume), his mother, two sisters, and two brothers. After spending the winter in Lexington, the newcomers of the family removed to English Prairie in the spring of 1819. George Flower championed the movement against admitting slavery into Illinois, and lived to see Albion become a prosperous and beautiful town. He was financially unfortunate, and for many years lived in retirement with his children in Illinois and Indiana. Shortly before his death (1862) he completed a History of the English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois (Chicago, 1882).—Ed.