John Page (May 21, 1787September 8, 1865) was an American farmer and politician from

Haverhill, New Hampshire Haverhill is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,585 at the 2020 census. Haverhill includes the villages of Woodsville, Pike, and North Haverhill, the historic town center at Haverhill Corner, and the dis ...

. He represented

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a 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 to the nor ...

in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and served as the 17th

governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering Verm ...

from 1839 to 1842.

Biography

John Page, Jr. was born in

on May 21, 1787, the son of John Page (1741–1823) and Hannah Rice Green(e) (1757–1827). He attended the local schools and became a farmer. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

Page served as lieutenant in a local militia company which performed duty on the border with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to prevent contraband trade and deter the threat of a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

invasion. While the war was ongoing and immediately afterwards Page held the federal office of tax assessor. Page's party affiliation remained with different facets of the Democratic Party, and moved over time from the

Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the earl ...

to the Jacksonians to the Democrats to the

Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery int ...

. He was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1818 to 1820. 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. He served as a Selectman in Haverhill for fourteen non-consecutive terms, and was also the longtime town clerk. He served in the state house again in 1835, and was a member of the Governor’s Council in 1836 and 1838. In 1836 Page was elected to the

as a Democrat, temporarily filling the vacancy created when

Isaac Hill Isaac Hill (April 6, 1788March 22, 1851) was an American politician, journalist, political commentator and newspaper editor who was a United States senator and the 16th governor of New Hampshire, serving two consecutive terms. Hill was born on ...

resigned to become

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. 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. In 1839 Page was elected governor as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. He served until 1842, and was succeeded by Henry Hubbard, after which he resumed farming in Haverhill. In his later years Page became affiliated with the

Death and burial

Page died in Haverhill on September 8, 1865, and was buried in Haverhill's Ladd Street Cemetery.

Family

In 1812 John Page married Hannah Merrill (1789–1855). They had nine children. Among the children of John Page was John A. Page, who served as

Vermont State Treasurer The State Treasurer's Office is responsible for several administrative and service duties, in accordance with Vermont Statutes. These include: investing state funds; issuing state bonds; serving as the central bank for state agencies; managing the ...

.William Adams, editor
Gazetteer of Washington County, Vt.
1889, page 389

References

External links

a

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Page, John 1787 births 1865 deaths People from Haverhill, New Hampshire American militiamen in the War of 1812 American militia officers Democratic Party members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Democratic Party governors of New Hampshire New Hampshire Democratic-Republicans New Hampshire Jacksonians New Hampshire Free Soilers Democratic Party United States senators from New Hampshire