Charles Page
Encyclopedia
Charles Page was an important philanthropist
in the early history of Oklahoma
and Tulsa. His enduring act was the creation of the Sand Springs Home for orphans and widows and otherwise unwanted and unloved children. Concurrently, he founded the city of Sand Springs, Oklahoma
to support the home.
, outside of Stevens Point, Wisconsin
to James William and Mary Gottrey Page. Charles dropped out of school in 1870 and began working on a freight wagon after his father became too ill to work. The father died when Charles was eleven years old. Thereafter, he took care of his mother and four younger siblings.
For many years, Page's life consisted of a series of jobs in an attempt to support his family. In the early 1870s, he helped his mother cook for Wisconsin Central Railway workers. Additionally, he worked as a railway dispatcher and clerked in a general store. In 1876 - 1877, he worked as a lumberjack and logger. In 1879, he became a policeman in Ashland, Wisconsin
. In the following two years, he became chief of police for Tower, Minnesota
and then went to work for the Pinkerton Detective Agency.
Charles married his first wife, Lucy, in Duluth, Minnesota
in 1881. She already had a son named Willie, who Page adopted. The family moved to Ellensburg, Washington
during the 1880s, where Charles became an agent for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Moving to Tacoma, Washington
, Charles tried and failed as a hotel owner and as a commodities trader. From 1888 to 1890, he went to Canada searching for gold. During all this time he continued to send money to support his mother, until her death in 1891. During the 1890s, Charles worked in the mining industry in Washington, Idaho, Colorado and Canada. He apparently made some money, but lost all his savings in the Panic of 1893
. In 1900, he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado
where he got into real estate development, oil well drilling, and investing in power plants.
, then in Oklahoma Territory
in 1901. They lived there until 1903, when they moved to Tulsa
, then a boom town in Indian Territory
, where he bought a hotel and began an independent drilling operation. His initial wells were unsuccessful, but in 1905 his well named "The Taneha" began producing 2,000 barrels per day, helping Page make his first million dollars. Another of his wells hit natural gas in the Glenn Pool field. Sadly, Lucy Page died of cancer in 1906.
In 1908, Page purchased a quarter section
of land to the west of Tulsa. Soon, he acquired other adjoining properties. On this land, he eventually founded a town that he named Sand Springs. He also used part of the land for the Sand Springs Home and helped establish various schools in West Tulsa
, including Berryhill
. He was also very generous with various charities in Tulsa including the Salvation Army
, although he was not known to be affiliated with any particular church. Page quickly formed a friendship with the Tulsa Salvation Army captain, Brinton F. Breeding. He soon persuaded Breeding to work for him in developing the land for the envisioned orphanage.
On July 22, 1909, Charles married his second wife, Lucile Rayburn, in Denver. They returned to Tulsa, where Page had built a house at Third Street and Olympia Avenue. In 1912, they adopted a baby girl named Mary Ann. In 1915, the family moved to a new home at 810 North Main in Sand Springs.
In May, 1909, Page rescued 21 orphans from a bankrupt orphanage in Tulsa, legally adopted them and put Breeding in charge of the home. Thereafter,Page referred to the orphans as his "kids" and they referred to him as "Daddy.". Breeding would remain as superintendent until 1948. The Sand Springs Home is actually two different things. It is the name of the organization Charles Page founded to care for orphans and widows after he died. It is also the name of the building he built to house his orphans. The main dormitory was built in 1918. In it the children had matrons assigned to them to watch after them. In the dining area each family of children had their own table so they could eat together. When Charles Page was still alive he often preferred to eat with his kids at their tables, rather than sit at the main table with the rest of the adults. In recent years the few children who still live at the home were moved into cottages that surround the old home dormitory, which was demolished in 2006 to make way for a new recreation center for the home.
In 1912, Page began the construction of a widows colony for widowed and divorced women with children to support. The colony consisted of forty three-room shotgun houses. As years passed and the old colony homes began to fall into disrepair they were replaced with new two-bedroom brick cottages. The colony grounds came complete with a chapel and a nursery. Each house was provided with free water, free gas, free electricity, free rent, and a quart of milk per child per day. In order for a woman and her family to live in the colony, she had to have at least one child still in school, including college, her children had to maintain a "C" average in school and they had to observe all the colony rules of behavior.
and proposed to sell fresh water to Tulsa. His proposal competed with the alternative of building a dam on Spavinaw Creek. Heated competition between the two major newspapers, Tulsa Democrat (owned by Page), which supported the Shell Creek proposal, and the Tulsa World (owned by Eugene Lorton), which supported the Spavinaw plan. Page's proposal was rejected when tests showed that the quantity was inadequate to meet Tulsa's expected needs.
In the town's center there is a statue of him next to a library that is also named for him. The Sand Springs Home continues to help families and children today. Sand Springs' high school is named Charles Page High School
in his honor. There is also a park named for him in Sand Springs.
Charles and Lucile Page are both entombed at Woodland Cemetery in Sand Springs. Their marble tomb and the library named after Charles were built at the same time at the direction of Lucile Page.
Later, the Page home at 810 North Main in Sand Springs was damaged by a fire. Lucile was still living there at the time but was uninjured. The fire was extinquished by the Volunteer Fire Department of Sand Springs.
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
in the early history of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and Tulsa. His enduring act was the creation of the Sand Springs Home for orphans and widows and otherwise unwanted and unloved children. Concurrently, he founded the city of Sand Springs, Oklahoma
Sand Springs, Oklahoma
Sand Springs is a city in Osage and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A suburb of Tulsa, it is located predominantly in Tulsa County. The population was 18,906 in the 2010 U. S. Census, compared to 17,451 at the 2000 census. The city was founded in 1911, by Oklahoma philanthropist...
to support the home.
Early life
Page was born in Arnott, WisconsinArnott, Wisconsin
Arnott is an unincorporated community located in the town of Stockton, Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located at the intersection of County B and County J.-Geography:...
, outside of Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Stevens Point is the county seat of Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. Located in the central part of the state, it is the largest city in the county, with a population of 24,551 at the 2000 census...
to James William and Mary Gottrey Page. Charles dropped out of school in 1870 and began working on a freight wagon after his father became too ill to work. The father died when Charles was eleven years old. Thereafter, he took care of his mother and four younger siblings.
For many years, Page's life consisted of a series of jobs in an attempt to support his family. In the early 1870s, he helped his mother cook for Wisconsin Central Railway workers. Additionally, he worked as a railway dispatcher and clerked in a general store. In 1876 - 1877, he worked as a lumberjack and logger. In 1879, he became a policeman in Ashland, Wisconsin
Ashland, Wisconsin
Ashland is a city in Ashland and Bayfield counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The city is a port on Lake Superior, near the head of Chequamegon Bay. The population was 8,695 at the 2010 census....
. In the following two years, he became chief of police for Tower, Minnesota
Tower, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there are 479 people in the city, organized into 233 households and 137 families. The population density is 176.8 people per square mile . There are 295 housing units at an average density of 108.9 per square mile...
and then went to work for the Pinkerton Detective Agency.
Charles married his first wife, Lucy, in Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
in 1881. She already had a son named Willie, who Page adopted. The family moved to Ellensburg, Washington
Ellensburg, Washington
Ellensburg is a city in, and the county seat of, Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 18,174 at the 2010 census. The population was 18,250 at 2011 Estimate from Office of Financial Management. Ellensburg is located just east of the Cascade Range on I-90 and is known as the...
during the 1880s, where Charles became an agent for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Moving to Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
, Charles tried and failed as a hotel owner and as a commodities trader. From 1888 to 1890, he went to Canada searching for gold. During all this time he continued to send money to support his mother, until her death in 1891. During the 1890s, Charles worked in the mining industry in Washington, Idaho, Colorado and Canada. He apparently made some money, but lost all his savings in the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
. In 1900, he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
where he got into real estate development, oil well drilling, and investing in power plants.
Move to Oklahoma
Charles, Lucy and their son moved to Oklahoma CityOklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
, then in Oklahoma Territory
Oklahoma Territory
The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.-Organization:Oklahoma Territory's...
in 1901. They lived there until 1903, when they moved to Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, then a boom town in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
, where he bought a hotel and began an independent drilling operation. His initial wells were unsuccessful, but in 1905 his well named "The Taneha" began producing 2,000 barrels per day, helping Page make his first million dollars. Another of his wells hit natural gas in the Glenn Pool field. Sadly, Lucy Page died of cancer in 1906.
Founding of Sand Springs
Charles had never forgotten how his mother had struggled in poverty to keep her family together after her husband had died. There were few resources in the 19th and early 20th century to help either widows or orphans. He knew first-hand how fatherless children often had to forgo a school education to help support themselves or their families by working full-time in menial jobs. Now that Charles had begun to prosper, he thought about how he could help others caught in the same situation. He envisioned creating a planned community where widows and orphans could live and become more productive members of society.In 1908, Page purchased a quarter section
Quarter section
A quarter section, often shortened to quarter, is an area of one-fourth of a square mile, or . It was a common size of a tract in homesteading in the United States and Canada.For details on its use, see*Dominion Land Survey in Canada...
of land to the west of Tulsa. Soon, he acquired other adjoining properties. On this land, he eventually founded a town that he named Sand Springs. He also used part of the land for the Sand Springs Home and helped establish various schools in West Tulsa
West Tulsa, Oklahoma
West Tulsa is a local name given to an area situated in the west section of the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma which includes various communities to the west and south of the Arkansas River...
, including Berryhill
Berryhill, Oklahoma
Berryhill is a small community in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, west of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and about four square miles in area. It is located south of the Arkansas River and north of W. 41st St. S., and between S. 71st W. Ave. and S. 47th W. Ave....
. He was also very generous with various charities in Tulsa including the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
, although he was not known to be affiliated with any particular church. Page quickly formed a friendship with the Tulsa Salvation Army captain, Brinton F. Breeding. He soon persuaded Breeding to work for him in developing the land for the envisioned orphanage.
On July 22, 1909, Charles married his second wife, Lucile Rayburn, in Denver. They returned to Tulsa, where Page had built a house at Third Street and Olympia Avenue. In 1912, they adopted a baby girl named Mary Ann. In 1915, the family moved to a new home at 810 North Main in Sand Springs.
Sand Springs Home and Widow's Colony
In May, 1909, Page rescued 21 orphans from a bankrupt orphanage in Tulsa, legally adopted them and put Breeding in charge of the home. Thereafter,Page referred to the orphans as his "kids" and they referred to him as "Daddy.". Breeding would remain as superintendent until 1948. The Sand Springs Home is actually two different things. It is the name of the organization Charles Page founded to care for orphans and widows after he died. It is also the name of the building he built to house his orphans. The main dormitory was built in 1918. In it the children had matrons assigned to them to watch after them. In the dining area each family of children had their own table so they could eat together. When Charles Page was still alive he often preferred to eat with his kids at their tables, rather than sit at the main table with the rest of the adults. In recent years the few children who still live at the home were moved into cottages that surround the old home dormitory, which was demolished in 2006 to make way for a new recreation center for the home.
In 1912, Page began the construction of a widows colony for widowed and divorced women with children to support. The colony consisted of forty three-room shotgun houses. As years passed and the old colony homes began to fall into disrepair they were replaced with new two-bedroom brick cottages. The colony grounds came complete with a chapel and a nursery. Each house was provided with free water, free gas, free electricity, free rent, and a quart of milk per child per day. In order for a woman and her family to live in the colony, she had to have at least one child still in school, including college, her children had to maintain a "C" average in school and they had to observe all the colony rules of behavior.
Shell Creek
Charles Page owned the Sand Springs Bottling Company, which was the dominant supplier of fresh water for domestic consumption. By 1920, he had built a dam on Shell Creek, which created Shell Lake, near Sand Springs, OklahomaSand Springs, Oklahoma
Sand Springs is a city in Osage and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A suburb of Tulsa, it is located predominantly in Tulsa County. The population was 18,906 in the 2010 U. S. Census, compared to 17,451 at the 2000 census. The city was founded in 1911, by Oklahoma philanthropist...
and proposed to sell fresh water to Tulsa. His proposal competed with the alternative of building a dam on Spavinaw Creek. Heated competition between the two major newspapers, Tulsa Democrat (owned by Page), which supported the Shell Creek proposal, and the Tulsa World (owned by Eugene Lorton), which supported the Spavinaw plan. Page's proposal was rejected when tests showed that the quantity was inadequate to meet Tulsa's expected needs.
Industrial Development
Charles Page continually campaigned to attract companies to move to Sand Springs to provide jobs for his "kids". Of the many industries of early day Sand Springs, some examples include: Sheffield Steel, Kerr Glass Company, Southwestern porcelain, Commander Mills (a cotton mill) and Sinclair Prairie Refinery.Death and Memorials
Charles Page died of influenza on December 27, 1926, but is still remembered in his community. The main street of Sand Springs is named "Charles Page Boulevard". This street connects Sand Springs to Tulsa, where it becomes West Third Street.In the town's center there is a statue of him next to a library that is also named for him. The Sand Springs Home continues to help families and children today. Sand Springs' high school is named Charles Page High School
Charles Page High School
Charles Page High School is a high school in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, named after the philanthropist Charles Page. It is the only public high school in Sand Springs.-History:...
in his honor. There is also a park named for him in Sand Springs.
Charles and Lucile Page are both entombed at Woodland Cemetery in Sand Springs. Their marble tomb and the library named after Charles were built at the same time at the direction of Lucile Page.
Later, the Page home at 810 North Main in Sand Springs was damaged by a fire. Lucile was still living there at the time but was uninjured. The fire was extinquished by the Volunteer Fire Department of Sand Springs.
External links
- Horn, Nina A. (1987) 1987 Hall of Fame Inductee: Charles Page, Tulsa Historical Society.
- "Oklahoma Man Built a Town for Widows", New York Times, September 12, 1915.