George Ham Page commonly referred to as General Page (May 16, 1836 - April 20, 1899) was an American industrialist who co-founded the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in 1866, a predecessor of

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

. He was primarily active in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He was the grandfather and namesake of alpine skier George Page.

Early life and education

Page was born May 16, 1836, in Palmyra Township in

Dixon, Illinois Dixon is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 15,274 as of the 2020 census. The city is named after founder John Dixon, who operated a rope ferry service across the Rock River (Mississippi River ...

to John Ham and Julia (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Fellows) Page. His parents were both born in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and moved into a log cabin in the predominantly

native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

west of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. His maternal family hailed from

Sandwich, New Hampshire Sandwich is a New England town, town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. Its population was 1,466 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Sandwich includes the villages of Center Sandwich, New Ham ...

while his paternal family was from Rochester. He had a very modest upbringing and attended the school of the settlers before enrolling at Rock River Seminary (today Mount Morris College) and the Iowa Conference Seminary (today

Cornell College Cornell College is a private liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary (Methodist), the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell Co ...

) in

Mount Vernon, Iowa Mount Vernon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Lisbon. The population was 4,527 at the time of the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Mount Verno ...

which was founded by his maternal uncle Samuel Fellows.

Career

In 1854, aged 18, he began teaching after his uncle and his wife hired him to teach at the Iowa Conference Seminary. However he did not like his new teaching profession and he returned to his fathers farm in

Palmyra, Illinois Palmyra is a village in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 605 at the 2020 census, down from 698 in 2010. History The first home in the Palmyra area was a log cabin built in 1835 by William Owens. The town originally ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, in 1861, he worked briefly as secretary in the

Department of Military Affairs Department of Military Affairs (DMA) is the department in charge of military matters within the Indian Ministry of Defence. Headed by the Chief of Defence Staff, as its ''ex-officio'' secretary, the DMA provides integration between the Indian ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

In 1866, he joins his brother Charles A. Page (1838-1873), in Europe. In 1866, Page and his younger brother Charles formed the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in

Cham, Switzerland Cham is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zug (canton), Zug in Switzerland. Location Cham is located on the northern shore of Lake Zug, northwest of the cantonal capital of Zug. Surrounding ...

. Back then this was the first and only manufacturing plant for

evaporated milk Evaporated milk, known in some countries as "unsweetened condensed milk", is a shelf-stable canned cow’s milk product for which approximately 60% of the water has been removed from fresh milk. French inventor, Nicolas Appert, the "father of ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Initially, the company is called The Alpine Condensed Milk Company and the co-founders of the corporation with capital of 100,000 Swiss Francs are listed as: David Hilton Wheeler, president and secretary; Philippe E. Lockwood, resident of Wohlen and owner of the Hilfikon Castle; L.P. Merriam; James Kerez-Parvacini, the only Swiss citizen among the founders; Charles Albert and George Ham Page. George's stake in the company is initially only 4% for which he paid 4,000 Swiss Francs which was a considerable risk for him who previously made $1,500 per year while working in the government agency in Washington, D.C.

Personal life

In 1875, Page married Swiss Adelheid Schwerzmann (1853-1925), who originally hailed from

Zug Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...

. His wife was mostly known as socialite and philanthropist after the death of her late husband. She purchased St. Andreas Castle in 1906. They had one son; * Fred Harte Page (January 23, 1877 - January 9, 1930) who married Lisina Martinelli at St. Andreas Castle which was owned by his mother Adelheid Page on January 17, 1906. They had two children: Monica (1907-1995) and George Hugh (1910-2001). He was among the richest Swiss citizens of the time. Page who travelled frequently between the United States and Switzerland at the time died suddenly and unexpected while on vacation in Switzerland at his Villa Cottage in

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script * Cham Albani ...

aged almost 63. Due to Page being

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

he was not truly accepted into the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

community of Zug. Therefore, the local pastor did not want to have a ceremony to happen locally. Page was buried in

on May 13, 1899. Generally speaking Page was not well integrated in Swiss society and kept his life private. Despite living in Switzerland for many decades he couldn't speak Swiss German (and only rudimentary German). His younger brother,

David Steven Page David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

(1844-1903), was the opposite of his elder brother in this regards.

Literature

* Orsouw, Michael van; Stadlin, Judith; Imboden, Monika: George Page, der Milch-Pionier (Vevey/Zürich, 2004) in German * Page-Scherzmann, George Ham (1836-1899) In: Chamapedia (in German)

References

{{Authority control 1836 births 1899 deaths Swiss diaspora in the United States American industrialists 19th-century American businesspeople American educators American company founders American people of English descent American Methodists Methodists from Illinois Businesspeople from Illinois Gilded Age People from Dixon, Illinois People from Cham, Switzerland Nestlé people Nestlé Dairy industry