J.D. PAIGE
continued passages from the book by Robert E. Sterling
"Perhaps no other person in Joliet's history contributed as much to the city's development as J.D. Paige....
Born in Oneida County, New York, in 1837, he accompanied his parents to Jefferson County, Wisconsin, in 1844. At the age of twenty, he came to Joliet with a dollar in his pocket and a will to work. In 1869, Paige developed a process for bottling flavored drinks under pressure using carbonic acid gas. Although his carbonated soft drinks were never patented, Paige was truely a pioneer in what has become the multi-million dollar soda pop industry today.
A multi-faceted man, J.D. Paige was involved in almost every major reform undertaken in Joliet from 1875 until the early 1900's. The list of his achievements and public service is endless and includes: mayor, fire department chief, police department chief, township assessor, and leadership on numerous other committees and boards. During his tenure as chief of police, Paige reorganized and modernized the department. He purchased new uniforms, acquired the first patrol wagon, installed a telegraph system which connected neighborhood call boxes to the central station, and implemented a system of daily written reports. A few years later, as mayor, Paige appointed the first black officer to Joliet's police department.
Serving as fire chief for several years, Paige transformed that department from a volunteer organization to a paid unit. He insisted that enough horses be purchased in order to keep some in harneses at all times ready to be hitched in ten seconds. The department drilled regularly under the chief's watchful eye and became so proficient that honors were awarded in the 1878 National Fireman's Tournament in Chicago.
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As an entrepreneur, Paige was extremely enterprising and involved in a variety of ventures. He was a grocer for a while, as well as a successful bottler. In partnership with J.G. Elwood, Paige introduced telephone service to Joliet in 1880. Moreover, he was an advocate of social reform as well as technical innovations. While delivering a memorial address in 1895 to honor black abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass, Paige likened the political bondage of women to the former plight of slaves. His was one of the few male voices raised in nineteenth-century Joliet on behalf of women's suffrage.
The contributions of J.D. Paige to the social, political, and economic development of Joliet place him in a class as one of Joliet's leading citizens."
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