John Page (May 21, 1787September 8, 1865) was an American farmer and politician from Haverhill, New Hampshire. He represented New Hampshire in the United States Senate and served as the 17th governor of New Hampshire from 1839 to 1842.
Biography John Page, Jr. was born in Haverhill, New Hampshire on May 21, 1787, the son of John Page (1741–1823) and Hannah Rice Green(e) (1757–1827).James T. White and Company, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 11, 1901, page 128Ezra S. Stearns, History of the Town of Rindge, New Hampshire, 1875, page 615 He attended the local schools and became a farmer.
During the War of 1812 Page served as lieutenant in a local militia company which performed duty on the border with Canada to prevent contraband trade and deter the threat of a British invasion.Emma C. Watts, The Granite Monthly magazine, New Hampshire in the War of 1812, June 1901, page 359
While the war was ongoing and immediately afterwards Page held the federal office of tax assessor.United States Congress, Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States, Volume 3, 1828, page 27
Page's party affiliation remained with different facets of the Democratic Party, and moved over time from the Democratic-Republican Party to the Jacksonians to the Democrats to the Free Soil Party.
He was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1818 to 1820.John Quincy Bittinger, History of Haverhill, N.H., 1888, page 429
Page was also a longtime local and county official, serving as Register of Deeds for Grafton County in 1827 and again from 1829 to 1835.John Hayward (Boston), The New-England and New-York Law-Register, for the Year 1835, 1835, page 72 He served as a Selectman in Haverhill for fourteen non-consecutive terms, and was also the longtime town clerk.John Quincy Bittinger, History of Haverhill, N.H., pages 425-426
He served in the state house again in 1835,John Quincy Bittinger, History of Haverhill, N.H., page 430 and was a member of the Governor’s Council in 1836 and 1838.The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, New Hampshire Government, Volumes 9-10, 1838, page 142Nancy Capace, Encyclopedia of New Hampshire, 2001, page 430
In 1836 Page was elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat, temporarily filling the vacancy created when Isaac Hill resigned to become governor.New Hampshire General Court, Journal of the Senate and House, 1836, page 58 Page served from June 8, 1836, to March 3, 1837. During the 1836 election to fill the vacancy it was agreed between the candidates that Page would complete Hill's term and then defer to Franklin Pierce. In 1837 Pierce was elected to a full six-year term and succeeded Page. During his Senate service Page was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture.Robert C. Byrd, Senate, 1789–1989: Historical Statistics, 1789-1992, Volume 4, 1993, page 522
In 1839 Page was elected governor as a Democrat.New Hampshire General Court, Journal of the Senate and House, June 6, 1839, page 13 He served until 1842, and was succeeded by Henry Hubbard, after which he resumed farming in Haverhill.The Encyclopædia Britannica New Hampshire, 1911, page 498
In his later years Page became affiliated with the Free Soil Party.Niles' National Register, The Presidency: Free Soil Movements, Volume 74, September 20, 1848, page 191
Death and burial Page died in Haverhill on September 8, 1865, and was buried in Haverhill's Ladd Street Cemetery.Thomas E. Spencer, Where They're Buried, 1998, page 134
Family In 1812 John Page married Hannah Merrill (1789–1855). They had nine children.Nancy Burton, Haverhill and East Haverhill, 2008, page 94
Among the children of John Page was John A. Page, who served as Vermont State Treasurer.William Adams, editor, Gazetteer of Washington County, Vt., 1889, page 389
References
External links
John Page (New Hampshire) at National Governors Association