Bio: Page, David (Born 1 May 1856)

Transcriber: Kim Hanson

Email: posted4u@charter.net

Surnames: Page

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

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, our subject 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.