Rodney Wallace Page Family Papers, 1881-1927
Table of Contents
- Overview of the Collection
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Biographical Note
- Content Description
- Administrative Information
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Detailed Description of the Collection
- Ida Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Rodney Wallace Page, September 3, 1881
- Rodney Wallace Page and Sarah Peters Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page, December 11, 1881
- Sarah Peters Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page, December 18, 1881
- Rodney Wallace Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page, January 17, 1882
- Sarah Peters Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page, January 19, 1882
- Sarah Peters Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page, January 23, 1882
- Rodney Wallace Page and Sarah Peters Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page, January 31, 1882
- Rodney Wallace Page and Sarah Peters Page, Climax, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page, March 5, 1882
- Rodney Wallace Page, Pageville, Montana, memorandum of agreement with E. B. Page, April 2, 1900
- Harry Redfield and Elvira Page Redfield, Pageville, Montana, letter to Ida Page, September 5, 1905
- Rodney Wallace Page, bill of sale to Parson Brothers, Wibaux, Montana, October 14, 1914
- Sarah Peters Page, Santa Clara, California, letter to Elvira Page Redfield, January 1916
- Elvira Page Redfield, Twin Bridges, Montana, letter to Mary Redfield, June 4, 1925
- Elvira Page Redfield, Whitehall, Montana, letter to Mary Redfield, April 1926
- Elvira Page Redfield, Whitehall, Montana, letter to Mary Redfield, September 25, 1927
- Names and Subjects
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Page, Rodney Wallace
- Title
- Rodney Wallace Page Family Papers
- Dates
- 1881-192718811927
- Quantity
- 1 folder
- Collection Number
- Collection 2545, MtBC, us (collection)
- Summary
- The Rodney W. Page Papers consist of letters and legal documents. Most of the letters were written in 1881-1882, correspondents include Rodney and his wife, Sarah, their son, Arthur, Rodney's daughter, Elvira, and her daughter Mary. These letters describe family news, local weather conditions, religious admonishments, the state of affairs in Montana, preparations for the family's move to the territory, as well as farming and ranching activities in Madison County. The legal documents discuss the sale and management of cattle.
- Repository
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Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Biographical Note
Rodney Wallace Page was born in 1838, one of five children born to Wallace and Nancy Bonnie Page. His siblings were Elvira Page (1833-1914), Robert Wallace Page (1834-1913), Elmina Page (1836-1910) and James Madison Page (1839-1924). Sometime prior to 1864, Rodney married Sarah Peters and the couple had seven children: Evelyn (1864-1946), Arthur (1865-1958), Elvira (1867-1937), Alta (1868-1924), Ida (1870-1914), Ernest (1873-1964) and Edward (1875-1945). As Rodney worked as a surveyor in Osceola County, Michigan, his siblings began a family migration to Madison County, Montana, the first arrival being James Madison Page in 1866, followed by Robert Wallace Page in 1879 and Elmina Page in 1880. Rodney's eldest son, Arthur, had also removed before his father embarked to Montana and worked for his uncle James on his homestead. In 1882 Rodney left Michigan to join his brother James on a surveying expedition to Yellowstone National Park. Rodney's wife Sarah, along with the rest of the children and Rodney's widowed sister Elvira, joined them all shortly thereafter. Rodney eventually established his own homestead in the Twin Bridges area and continued to work as a land surveyor. Rodney's second daughter, Elvira, eventually married Harry Redfield, an employee of her father. Their daughter was Mary Redfield, whose publications and manuscripts can be found in Collection 336, the Mary Redfield Lindsey Papers. Rodney Wallace Page died in Santa Clara, California in 1915, and his wife Sarah died there in 1916.
Content Description
The Rodney W. Page papers consist of letters and legal documents. Most of the letters were written in 1881-82 by Rodney and his wife, Sarah, from Osceola County, Michigan, to their son, Arthur, in Montana Territory. These letters describe family news, local weather conditions, religious admonishments, and questions regarding the state of affairs in Montana and the preparations for the family's move to the territory. Additional letters by Rodney's daughter, Elvira, to her daughter Mary, describe some farming and ranching activities in Madison County, Montana along with family news. Two legal documents complete the collection. These items concern the sale and management of cattle by Rodney in the early twentieth century. The documents in this collection have been individually calendared.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Letters and legal documents created or collected by the family of Rodney W. Page were donated to Montana State University by his descendants Orrie Page, of Lebanon, Oregon, Janice M. Hewitt and Laurence Page on August 4, 2011.
Processing Note
This collection was processed 2011 August 11
Detailed Description of the Collection
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Description: Ida Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Rodney Wallace Page
Family news; school studies; addendum to Arthur Page expressing her loneliness and asking him to write
Dates: September 3, 1881Container: Folder item 1/1 -
Description: Rodney Wallace Page and Sarah Peters Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page
Family news; mentions smallpox in Osceola County; questions about Montana homestead site regarding river location and proximity of potential neighbors; religious admonishments
Dates: December 11, 1881Container: Folder item 1/2 -
Description: Sarah Peters Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page
Family news; mentions hearing from James and his satisfaction with Arthur's work; religious admonishments; asks if Arthur would consider coming back to Michigan to live
Dates: December 18, 1881Container: Folder item 1/3 -
Description: Rodney Wallace Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page
Mentions receiving a letter from Arthur and James; asks that logs be hauled to prepare a home site in Montana; religious admonishments
Dates: January 17, 1882Container: Folder item 1/4 -
Description: Sarah Peters Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page
Mentions receiving two letters from Arthur; family news and farm matters in Michigan; asks about the Montana home site and any potential Indian problems
Dates: January 19, 1882Container: Folder item 1/5 -
Description: Sarah Peters Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page
General admonishments of religion
Dates: January 23, 1882Container: Folder item 1/6 -
Description: Rodney Wallace Page and Sarah Peters Page, Hersey, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page
Family news and local travels in Michigan; notes anxiousness of sons to go to Montana; mentions recently published book on the life of President James A. Garfield
Dates: January 31, 1882Container: Folder item 1/7 -
Description: Rodney Wallace Page and Sarah Peters Page, Climax, Michigan, letter to Arthur Page
Visiting relatives in area; mentions being in a hurry to get to the Beaverhead Valley in Montana; asks how the ranch looks; religious admonishments
Dates: March 5, 1882Container: Folder item 1/8 -
Description: Rodney Wallace Page, Pageville, Montana, memorandum of agreement with E. B. Page
Agreement to share the offspring of cattle, with proper identification information for twelve head
Dates: April 2, 1900Container: Folder item 1/9 -
Description: Harry Redfield and Elvira Page Redfield, Pageville, Montana, letter to Ida Page
Mentions regret over Charlie's sickness; family news; housekeeping details; mentions accident suffered by Harry; regret over Charlie's failure to finish a contract due to illness
Dates: September 5, 1905Container: Folder item 1/10 -
Description: Rodney Wallace Page, bill of sale to Parson Brothers, Wibaux, Montana
Details sale of fifty head of cattle
Dates: October 14, 1914Container: Folder item 1/11 -
Description: Sarah Peters Page, Santa Clara, California, letter to Elvira Page Redfield
[handwritten transcription]
Health matters; family news
Dates: January 1916Container: Folder item 1/12 -
Description: Elvira Page Redfield, Twin Bridges, Montana, letter to Mary Redfield
Family news; local weather conditions; raising turkeys; making butter; managing sheep
Dates: June 4, 1925Container: Folder item 1/13 -
Description: Elvira Page Redfield, Whitehall, Montana, letter to Mary Redfield
Family news; illnesses; threshing; household chores; hunting
Dates: April 1926Container: Folder item 1/14 -
Description: Elvira Page Redfield, Whitehall, Montana, letter to Mary Redfield
Family news; dental work; weather
Dates: September 25, 1927Container: Folder item 1/15
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Agriculture -- Montana -- Madison County
- Families -- Michigan -- Osceola County
- Families -- Montana -- Madison County
- Frontier and pioneer life -- Montana -- Madison County
- Ranching -- Montana -- Madison County
Personal Names
- Lindsey, Mary Redfield, 1892-1972 -- Correspondence
- Page, Arthur, 1865-1958 -- Correspondence
- Page, Rodney Wallace, 1838-1915 -- Correspondence
- Page, Sarah Peters, d. 1916 -- Correspondence
- Redfield, Elvira Page, 1867-1937 -- Correspondence
Family Names
Geographical Names
- Madison County (Mont.) -- History -- 19th century
- Osceola County (Mich.) -- History -- 19th century
- Twin Bridges (Mont.)
Form or Genre Terms
Other Creators
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Family Names
