James and Hannah Kingsley Paige arr 1823
(1773-1830; 1781-1860)
James b. NH, Hannah b. Rutledge, VT
James Paige was born in New Hampshire. He was raised a Presbyterian and
studied to become a Presbyterian minister, but became interested in
Universalism and ended his studies when he converted to Universalism. He
married Hannah Kingsley, who was born in Rutledge, Vermont. Their surnames
suggest they were of English descent.
Came to Indiana, Strawtown, lost land
James and Hannah settled in Rutledge, Vermont, where James was employed in
a mill, and started a family. In 1819 they moved to Strawtown, Hamilton
County, Indiana. The area was part of the New Purchase, the
8.5-million-acre piece covering most of central Indiana that had been
purchased from the Indians by a series of treaties the preceding year. They
settled on land that had not yet been surveyed or offered for sale, opening
a mill there. When land sales were begun, the Paiges discovered that,
contrary to local custom which gave the resident first chance at the plot
he had settled and improved, someone had bought their land, refusing even
to pay for their improvements. This sounds like an incident involving John
Connor, an Indian trader who had a trading post at Connorsville. The Paiges
were forced to move on. Several other families who came to Dayton about the
same time were listed on the same page of the 1820 census: Paige, McGeorge,
Bush, and Horram. Perhaps all four came here because of this incident.
Moved to Sheffield twp, spring 1823
In the spring of 1823, the Paiges moved to Sheffield township, settling
near an Indian village called Wyandott. There were two families already
there whose names were not recorded. The Richard Baker family arrived about
the same time as the Paiges. Since Baker is in Switzerland county in the
1820 census, it appears that they did not come together but just happened
to arrive at the same time.
Problems in swamp
After selecting a home site, James returned to Hamilton County to load up
his household goods and with three of his sons, Charles (18), Phineas (11),
and Edward (9), started back west. They probably followed the Strawtown
trace, which approximated the later route of State Road 38 as far as
Frankfort, then took a route that became what is today called Newcastle
Road into Tippecanoe County. In the Black Swamp in present-day Boone
County, the overloaded wagon became mired in the mud. It was decided to
unload part of the goods and leave the two youngest sons, Phineas and
Edward, to guard them. James and Charles would take the wagon with part of
the goods on to the chosen site, then return for the belongings left behind
and the two boys. James had to go to act as guide, and Charles was needed
to drive the wagon and, probably, to help unload.
Settled in Indian village
They delivered their load and returned to the swamp for the two boys and
the rest of their household goods. They built a cabin at the Indian
village. This has always been thought to have occurred at Wyandott, but
actually the Indian village was about a half mile north of the eventual
site of Wyandott, at the mouth of a small spring or run in Indian or
Kingston Hollow. The Paige cabin was either at the Indian village or at the
location of the future town of Wyandott. About where Wyandott cemetery is
today there was a trading post run by Simon Peter Langlois, either a French
trader married to a Potawatomi woman or their son. The Indians probably had
access to trade goods, and therefore would have been using some metal and
pottery utensils and have had some cloth garments. Their village was a
combination of wigwams (the traditional rounded hut) and cabins without
chimneys.
Left Phineas at Indian village while others went back for rest of family
After building the cabin and planting some corn, Paige returned to
Strawtown for the rest of the family. Phineas was left alone in the cabin
to keep an eye on things. Presumably his neighbors kept an eye on him.
Land owned by Richardville children; trip to Fort Wayne to secure land
When the time came to secure ownership of his land, Paige discovered that
it was not government land after all, but was owned by the children of a
Miami chief, Jean-Baptiste Richardville, son of a French trader and a Miami
woman, the sister of Chief Little Turtle. Paige contacted Indian agent John
Tipton and made a trip to Richardville's village at Fort Wayne and made
arrangements to stay on the land. No record of a deed to James has so far
been found. Perhaps he decided to have the land put in his son's name, for
Charles took title to a plot, but it is not on the Richardville Reserve,
although it is on the northern border of the Reserve. Or perhaps he merely
made some arrangements to stay on the land without legal ownership, for the
entire reserve was sold in 1829 to Samuel McGeorge. Paige died in 1830.
Firsts
The Paiges are given credit for several firsts: first ground broken, first
corn planted, first wheat planted, first Fourth of July celebration (1824),
first religious services in their home, first deaths in their home (the
Thompson family), first brick house (1827), first rail fence. In addition,
Mrs. Richard Baker delivered the first white child born in the township and
taught the first school (a subscription school in her cabin) and the first
Sunday school.
--Bibliography prepared by Susan Y. Clawson from censuses, local records,
published treaties, and Tippecanoe County, Clinton County, and Hamilton
County published biographies, and bios of John Tipton and William Henry
Harrison. Corrections welcome.
Susan Y. Clawson clawsons(a)purdue.edu
Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures OFFICE (765) 494-3843
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