Page News & Courier

Heritage and Heraldry

The legacies that accompany Page County's name

Article of January 11, 2001

Governor John Page, for whom Page County was named, is likely forgotten by most in referring to the county. However, in his day the man accomplished much to justify the naming of a county in his honor.

Born at "Rosewell" in Gloucester County, Virginia on April 17,1743, Page was a descendant of Colonel John Page * a Middlesex, England immigrant who settled in York County in 1655. Built on the land that the family had owned since the 1680s, "Rosewell" was constructed from 1725 to 1740 by Mann Page I, the son of Matthew and Mary Mann Page and the grandson of Colonel John Page. (Mann Page I was also the husband of Judith Carter, daughter of Robert "King" Carter * the Carter line also originating from Middlesex, England with Colonel John Carter). Though built to reflect the power and wealth of the Page family, upon the death of Mann Page I in 1730, he left the yet uncompleted mansion and accompanying debts to his son Mann Page II, father of Governor John Page. At the death of Mann Page II, "Rosewell" was left to John Page, the eldest son of Mann Page II and last of the family to actually reside in the home.

As for his career-life, John Page was naturally affiliated with many notables of the Revolutionary era including college classmate Thomas Jefferson. Graduating from the College of William and Mary in 1763, perhaps one of his earliest claims to fame brought him in the company and service of George Washington in an expedition against the French & Indians. Politically, Page first entered the stage as a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1776. From 1776-1779 he served as Virginia's lieutenant governor (while Patrick Henry served as governor). Additionally, Page's political service included terms with the Virginia state legislature, the U.S. House of Representatives from 1789-97 ("at-large" from 1789-91, 10th District from 1791-93, 12th District from 1793-97) and finally as the sixteenth Governor (1802-1805) chosen by the Virginia State Legislature since Patrick Henry.

Governor John Page died in Richmond on October 11, 1808 and was interred in St. John's Churchyard.

While Page County stands as a memorial in theory to the man and patriot, people can also take interest in the fact that the Page family home of "Rosewell" is a major archaeological project in Colonial Williamsburg. Though relatively abandoned by the Page family after Governor Page's death and consumed by a three-day fire in 1916, the remains along with a few surviving outbuildings and several acres were turned over to the Gloucester Historical Society in 1979 * all of which still stand in close proximity of the Bruton Heights School (a former African-American school and now the home of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Center).

As a final note and interesting continuation of the "Page" family tradition, eight months after the establishment of Page County, in November 1831, Mann Page, "a black man, was returned to the court, examined and ordered to be certified as truly made." By being "truly made" it was established that in return for the sum of $600 to Philip Rudacille, Mann Page was officially freed from slavery. Though unlikely, in his "Short History of Page County," Harry M. Strickler speculates that the "Colored Mann Page may have been a servant at 'Rosewell.'" The freed Mann Page will be the subject of yet another forthcoming article.

Return to the Page News & Courier sponsored directory for Heritage & Heraldry articles.