Born in Anson County, North Carolina. Moved to Nauvoo in 1843. Received a patriarchal blessing from Hyrum Smith in 1844. Called to go to California in 1849. Died from a fractured neck after being thrown from a mule. (Mentioned in FamilySearch 2.23, Ancestral File entry for James Madison Flake, 1992 Rel., Ancestral File Number 17NW–WX, Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; and in S. Eugene Flake, comp., James Madison Flake, Nov. 8, 1859, Feb. 4, 1946: Pioneer, Leader, Missionary [Bountiful, Utah: Wasatch Press, 1970].)