Creed Fulton Flanary, the son of Elkanah and Nancy Young Flanary, was born in Lee County, Virginia in November 1844. Flanary joined the Confederate Army at Camp Lane (Lee County) in September 1861, enlisting in Company G of the 64th Virginia Mounted Infantry. By February 1863, he had risen to the rank of sergeant. He was taken prisoner at Cumberland Gap in September 1863 and remained a prisoner at Camp Douglas (Chicago) until released in June 1865. Returning to Virginia, Flanary married Sarah "Sally" Caroline Litton in 1870, and the couple would have 13 children. In Wise County, Flanary established a large general mercantile business under the name C. F. Flanary and Company. He also became president of the Norton Wholesale Grocery Company. In 1883, Flanary was elected to the state senate and served one term. In addition to his Wise County businesses, Flanary held business concerns as far away as Roanoke and owned two farms in Lee County. At the time of his death on April 14, 1910, Flanary was said to have been one of the wealthiest men in Southwest Virginia and the wealthiest in Wise County.