LXXXI.
LXXXI. JOHN PAGE.
LXXXI. Governor.
LXXXI. December 1, 1802, to December 1, 1805.
John Page, of "Rosewell," Gloucester County, Virginia,
was descended from Colonel John Page, who emigrated from
England to Virginia in 1650. This latter is said to have had
distinguished family connections, and he soon became prominent
in public affairs. He was a member of the Colonial
Council, and died January 23, 1690, in the County of York.
He was buried in Bruton Parish churchyard, Williamsburg,
Virginia, and his wife, Alice Page, is interred by his side.
Their son, Matthew, married Mary Mann, of Timberneck
Bay, an heiress of large possessions, who bequeathed an
immense estate to her son, Mann Page, the founder of "Rosewell."
This celebrated mansion was the pride and admiration
of successive generations, and justly so, from its reputed
grandeur—but, in later years, it has been standing on Carter's
Creek, in sight of York River, like a deserted English
castle, an eloquent reminder of the transitory nature of
earthly things. It has long been an accepted fact that the original
"Rosewell" plantation was the ancient Werowcomico,
where King Powhatan in earlier days held his chief residence.
Mann Page, the builder of the Rosewell house, was a
man of wealth, his landed estates being in Prince William,
Frederick, Spottsylvania, Essex, James City, Hanover,
Gloucester, and King William. He had eight thousand
acres in Frederick, called "Pageland," more than ten thousand
in Prince William called "Pageland," also; four thousand
five hundred in Spottsylvania, one thousand called
"Pampatike" in King William, two thousand in Hanover,
near two thousand in James City, besides other lands. His
great-grandson, John Page, sometime Governor of Virginia,
was born April 17, 1743, at "Rosewell," an estate which he
subsequently inherited. He was primarily educated by private
tutors, and finally went to William and Mary College,
an institution from which he graduated with distinction in
1763. He was appointed a visitor of this College in 1768,
and in 1773 he represented it in the House of Burgesses. As
a member of the Council in 1775, he incurred the displeasure
of Lord Dunmore by advising him to give up the powder
which the Governor had seized.
John Page displayed during the War of the Revolution an
ardent attachment to the cause of the Colonies, was in 1776
one of the most conspicuous members of the Convention
which formed the Constitution of Virginia, and was appointed
one of the first Council under that Constitution.
During the struggle for freedom he contributed freely
from his private fortune to the public cause, and served as
Colonel of militia from Gloucester County in 1781. In 1789
he was elected one of the representatives in Congress from
Virginia, and continued to act in that capacity until 1797.
In 1794 he served as Lieutenant-Colonel of a regiment from
Gloucester County in the suppression of the "Whiskey
Insurrection" in Western Pennsylvania. On December 1,
1802, he became Governor of Virginia, filling the office ably
and acceptably until December 1, 1805. In 1806 Governor
Page was appointed by President Jefferson, United States
Commissioner of Loans for Virginia, and held that position
until his death in 1808.
Among some of the interesting events in the United
States during Governor Page's administration, may be noted
the Eastern Confederacy Plot of 1804. This disunion project
originated among some disappointed politicians, and
happily came to naught. An Eastern Confederacy embracing
all of New England, with New York and New Jersey, was
the scheme for which these ambitious spirits labored at that
time, but in vain. The Union, cemented in blood, was too
strong for such disloyal sons to dissever.
Growing out of the turbulent condition of political feeling
at this period, occurred a tragedy which even at this distant
day cannot be recalled without the deepest pain. The duel
between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, which resulted
in the death of the latter, cast a gloom over the whole
country. To his friends and followers Hamilton's death
seemed a martyrdom, and the unhappy author of this national
calamity was pursued as a willful murderer; indictments
were found against him in New York and New Jersey, and
such was the public feeling that he had to take temporary
refuge in Georgia.
But as an offset to these reminiscences may be recounted
the cession of Louisiana by Spain to France in 1802, and the
purchase of that valuable land by the United States in 1803.
This year also witnessed the cession of an extended country
by the friendly tribe of Kaskaskia Indians to the United
States. This territory lay along the Mississippi, from the
mouth of the Illinois to and up the Ohio, and is estimated as
"among the most fertile within our limits." By a treaty
with the Indians at Fort Wayne, also, nearly two million
acres of land were granted to the United States.
So that, during Governor Page's administration, important
acquisitions of territory were made to the whole country;
the United States set the first example to the world of obliging
the Barbary powers to respect her flag by the force of
arms, instead of a disgraceful tribute, and at home and
abroad the power of the infant Republic was being sensibly
felt.
Virginia participated in the general prosperity, and peace
and plenty reigned within her borders.
Governor Page closed his administration as Governor
December 1, 1805, after two successive annual re-elections,
when, under the provisions of the State Constitution, not
being eligible again until after an interval of four years, he
was succeeded by Mr. William H. Cabell.
Governor Page was twice married and left a large family;
among his descendants may be found some of the most honored
names in the Commonwealth.
He was distinguished in his walk among men for his talents,
purity of morals, and patriotism. In private, his domestic
character was of peculiar simplicity and beauty, and
such were his attainments as a theologian and his zeal as a
churchman, that many of his friends had urged him to take
Orders, with a view to making him First Bishop of Virginia.
He died at Richmond, Virginia, October 11, 1808, and
was buried in St. John's churchyard, where a handsome
monument marks his grave.
The County of Page, in Virginia, formed from Rockingham
and Shenandoah Counties in 1831, was named in honor
of Governor Page.
