George Ham Page commonly referred to as General Page (May 16, 1836 - April 20, 1899) was an American industrialist who co-founded the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in 1866, a predecessor of

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

. He was primarily active in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He was the grandfather and namesake of alpine skier George Page.

Early life and education

Page was born May 16, 1836, in Palmyra Township in

Dixon, Illinois Dixon is a city and the county seat of Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 in 2000. The city is named after founder John Dixon, who operated a rope ferry service across the R ...

to John Ham and Julia (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Fellows) Page. His parents were both born in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and moved into a log cabin in the predominantly native American west of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. His maternal family hailed from

Sandwich, New Hampshire Sandwich is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. Its population was 1,466 at the 2020 census. Sandwich includes the villages of Center Sandwich and North Sandwich. Part of the White Mountain National Forest is in the north, a ...

while his paternal family was from Rochester. He had a very modest upbringing and attended the school of the settlers before enrolling at

Rock River Seminary Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

(today

Mount Morris College Mount Morris College was a religious college affiliated with the Church of the Brethren in Mount Morris, Illinois, USA. The original institution at this location was Rock River Seminary, which was founded by the Methodist Church in 1839. The Metho ...

) and the Iowa Conference Seminary (today

Cornell College Cornell College is a private college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary, the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell College, in honor of iron ty ...

) in

Mount Vernon, Iowa Mount Vernon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Lisbon. The population was 4,527 at the time of the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Mount Vernon ...

which was founded by his maternal uncle Samuel Fellows.

Career

In 1854, aged 18, he began teaching after his uncle and his wife hired him to teach at the Iowa Conference Seminary. However he did not like his new teaching profession and he returned to his fathers farm in

Palmyra, Illinois Palmyra is a village in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 698 at the 2010 census. History The first home in the Palmyra area was a log cabin built in 1835 by William Owens. The town originally was named Newburg, then ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, in 1861, he worked briefly as secretary in the

Department of Military Affairs Department of Military Affairs (DMA) is the department in charge of military matters within the Indian Ministry of Defence. Headed by the Chief of Defence Staff, as its ''ex-officio'' secretary, the DMA provides integration between the armed fo ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 1866, he joins his brother Charles A. Page (1838-1873), in Europe. In 1866, Page and his younger brother Charles formed the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in

Cham, Switzerland Cham is a municipality in the canton of Zug in Switzerland. Location Cham is located on the northern shore of Lake Zug, northwest of the cantonal capital of Zug. Surrounding Cham, Steinhausen is to the east, Hünenberg is to the west, Lake Z ...

. Back then this was the first and only manufacturing plant for evaporated milk in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Initially, the company is called The Alpine Condensed Milk Company and the co-founders of the corporation with capital of 100,000 Swiss Francs are listed as: David Hilton Wheeler, president and secretary; Philippe E. Lockwood, resident of Wohlen and owner of the Hilfikon Castle; L.P. Merriam; James Kerez-Parvacini, the only Swiss citizen among the founders; Charles Albert and George Ham Page. George's stake in the company is initially only 4% for which he paid 4,000 Swiss Francs which was a considerable risk for him who previously made $1,500 per year while working in the government agency in Washington, D.C.

Personal life

In 1875, Page married Swiss Adelheid Schwerzmann (1853-1925), who originally hailed from

Zug , neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri , twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina) Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...

. His wife was mostly known as socialite and philanthropist after the death of her late husband. She purchased St. Andreas Castle in 1906. They had one son; * Fred Harte Page (January 23, 1877 - January 9, 1930) who married Lisina Martinelli at St. Andreas Castle which was owned by his mother Adelheid Page on January 17, 1906. They had two children: Monica (1907-1995) and George Hugh (1910-2001). He was among the richest Swiss citizens of the time. Page who travelled frequently between the United States and Switzerland at the time died suddenly and unexpected while on vacation in Switzerland at his Villa Cottage in Cham aged almost 63. Due to Page being

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

he was not truly accepted into the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

community of Zug. Therefore, the local pastor did not want to have a ceremony to happen locally. Page was buried in

on May 13, 1899. Generally speaking Page was not well integrated in Swiss society and kept his life private. Despite living in Switzerland for many decades he couldn't speak Swiss German (and only rudimentary German). His younger brother, David Steven Page (1844-1903), was the opposite of his elder brother in this regards.

Literature

* Orsouw, Michael van; Stadlin, Judith; Imboden, Monika: George Page, der Milch-Pionier (Vevey/Zürich, 2004) in German * Page-Scherzmann, George Ham (1836-1899) In: Chamapedia (in German)

References

{{Authority control 1836 births 1899 deaths Swiss diaspora in the United States American industrialists 19th-century American businesspeople American educators American businesspeople American company founders American people of English descent American Methodists Methodists from Illinois Businesspeople from Illinois Gilded Age People from Dixon, Illinois People from Cham, Switzerland Nestlé people Nestlé Dairy industry