Early Clark Co., Wisconsin, Fur Trader

Dewitt W. Page was a farmer who fought in the Civil War.  At the age of twenty-seven, he joined the Union Army in La Crosse, Wisconsin, September 21, 1864.  He was drafted for duty and was mustered in the 6th District, WI.  He served as a private under Captain Michael Crawley in Company "I" of the 14th Wis. volunteer Infantry. He stood 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with lightly grayed hair and a fair complexion. 

He was reported on roll for January and February, 1865 as "present", joined at Eastport, Miss, February 1, 1865.  He reportedly committed suicide in a fit of temporary insanity in the Camp of Distribution, Mobile, Alabama, April 29, 1865.  But, testimony was given to H. W. Chase, Capt. "A", 20th Iowa Volunteers, June 23, 1865 and addressed to Captain Charles Altman, Commander of Distribution, informed him that Page was found dead in Camp Distribution, Mobile, Alabama, with his throat cut, on the morning of April 30, 1865.  He came in from Fort Gains on the morning of the 29th of April, 1865.  His effects were left in the office, also two copies of a Court of Inquiry which were delivered to Major Craig of the 161st NY Volunteer Infantry with instructions to send one copy to the Commanding Officer of Co. "I", 14th Wis. Vols.  A II Affidavit was executed Aug. 31, 1887 by Michael Crawley late Captain of Co. "I", 14th Wis. Vols., who said it was supposed that Page committed suicide, but that subsequent statements were brought to his knowledge which tended to show that he was assassinated in his bed.  The Attorney in the case says that Page was mistaken for a man named "Haines" who was a noisy argumentative Union soldier and would fight to maintain his arguments; that he exasperated the Rebel element at Mobile, Alabama.  A Rebel determined to assassinate Haines killed Dewitt Page by mistake.  There was a man by the name of J. Doucett who had personal knowledge of the facts, a private in Co. E, 14th Wis. Vols., but was lost on Lake Michigan in 1878.  In the absence of the record of the Court of Inquiry, it was deemed impossible to change the cause of DeWitt Page's death.

His last wages were never paid. His stoppages included 1 canteen, 1 haversack, 1 knapsack and 1/2 shelter tent.

Military Records [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

[1865 Discharge by Death] 

1887 Commission of Revisions Inquiry [Part A]  [Part B]

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David PAGE II (possible AKA of Dewitt Page?)
Birth: 1834, ca., in New York
Death: 1863, ca., in Green Bay, Brown Co. Wisconsin.
Reference Number: 3621

Marriage

4 July, 1858 to Amelia Hayden b: 1844, ca, in Fitzwilliam, Cheshire Co. New Hampshire.  Amelia married George W. Anthony 3 April, 1872 in Suamico, Brown Co., Wisconsin.

Children
James Page, b: 1855 ca., in Pittsfield, Brown Co. Wisconsin.
Charles Page, b: in Pittsfield, Brown Co. Wisconsin
Hiram David Page, b: 4 MAR 1859 in Pittsfield, Brown Co. Wisconsin

Census [1860 LaCrosse]

Land Record [1]

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Page Family Notes (unknown if any connection exists with the Dewitt or David Page above)

Source: Historical and Biographical Album of the Chippewa Valley - 1892

Michael Page, Civil War Soldier

David Page, blacksmith, Eau Claire, was born in St. Herman, Province of Quebec, Canada, May 1, 1856, and is the son of Michael and Angelique Page, both of whom were born in that province.  Michael was foreman in a large tannery in Detroit, Mich., when he enlisted during the war of the Rebellion.  He went south with his regiment, and his family never heard from him since.  His wife died shortly afterward of a broken heart, leaving four little ones to mourn her loss, three girls and a boy.  The eldest sister died at the age of seventeen years, the other two went with the sisters of charity and have dedicated their lives to the good of mankind, having taken the veil as nuns.  The grandfather of David, John B. Page, was born in Paris, France, and immigrated to Canada about 1812.  He was a farmer by Occupation and died at the extreme old age of 104 years.  His wife, Frances (Vallquette) Page, was born in Paris, and died at the age of seventy-eight years.  David’s mother, Angelique, was born in Canada, and died at the age of thirty-five years.  Her father, Franz, was also born in Canada, a farmer by occupation, and died on the old homestead, which has been in possession of the family for a hundred years or more.

After the death of his parents, David went to live with his grandmother, going to school in winter and helping her as he could.  At the age of sixteen he went as an apprentice to learn the blacksmith’s trade, and remained for four years.  He then went to Granville, Canada, and worked for nineteen months.  In the spring of 1878 he went 400 miles up the Ottawa River as a cook, at a salary of ninety cents per day.  At the expiration of three months he took a propeller for Michigan, and landed in Alpena an entire stranger, with only sixty cents in his pocket.  Her soon got work at his trade, and the next year came to Eau Claire, where he arrived June 5, 1879.  The second day after arriving he went to work for the Eau Claire Lumber Co.  From that time he worked at his trade in and around Eau Claire until Nov. 6, 1890, when he purchased the shop and building in which he is now doing business.  April 17, 1882, he married Mary Martine, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, July 10, 1861, a daughter of Edward and Bridget (Brady) Martine, both of Irish descent.  They have five children: John, Francis Roy, Mattie, Inez and Benjamin.  He is an independent democrat, and belongs to the Blacksmiths’ Union.  He was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church.