James Page born in 1808 died March 14, 1883 was an African-American minister.

History

James Page was born in Richmond

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 in 1808 as a slave.

About 1838 John Parkhill brought James and his wife came to Leon County

Leon County, Florida

Leon County is a county located in the state of Florida, named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. At the 2010 Census, the population was 275,487. The county seat of Leon County is Tallahassee which also serves as the state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. Colonel John H. Parkhill owned Belair Plantation. Page was a gardener, carriage

Carriage

A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...

 driver as well as a body servant to his owner. Parkhill would influence Page to take up the ministry.

In 1851 at Newport, Florida

Newport, Florida

Newport is a small unincorporated community in Wakulla County, Florida, United States of America, situated where U.S. Highway 98 meets State Road 267.-1840s:...

, a white, Baptist minister ordained James Page as Florida’s first and only African-American minister at that time. After his ordination, John Parkhill gave him land for the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church

Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church (Florida)

Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church was located south of Tallahassee, Florida in the unincorporated community of Belair and was moved to the Tallahassee Museum as one of its historical buildings....

 of Belair, Florida

Belair, Florida

Belair is an unincorporated community in southern Leon County, Florida, United States, south of Tallahassee. It is in the area bordered on the south by Capital Circle SE, on the north by Campbell Pond, on the west by Woodville Highway, and on the east by wooded property.During the American Civil...

, the first regularly organized black church in Florida.

From 1865 and 1870, Reverend Page organized the Bethel Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...

.

Politics

Page served as a Leon County delegate to the Republican Convention in 1867. He was also a Leon County commissioner from 1869 to 1870 and legislative chaplain of the Florida Senate from 1868 to 1870. In 1870 he ran unsuccessfully for State Senate, but returned to public office in 1872 when Governor Hart appointed him as Leon County’s Justice of the Peace.

Reverend James Page died March 14, 1883. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, 3945 Museum Drive, Tallahassee.

Sources

Florida Department of State