John Edward Page was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. Born in Trenton, New York, Page was the son of Ebenezer and Rachael Page. He was baptized into the Church of Christ, established by Joseph Smith, in Brownhelm, Ohio, in August 1833 by missionary Emer Harris. After his conversion, Page was ordained an elder. He relocated to Kirtland, Ohio, in 1835, and joined the growing body of church members in that region. Page served two missions in Upper Canada, the first beginning in May 1836 and the second in February 1837. By his count, he baptized 600 persons. Page was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in July 1838. In August 1838, he moved his family to Missouri, settling in Far West, Caldwell County. Life was difficult for the new Missouri settlers. Page left personal accounts of attacks by mobs of Missouri residents, both while with the wagon train and while residing in Far West. He noted that he "buried one wife and two children as martyrs to our holy religion, since they died through extreme suffering for the want of the common comforts of life." Page received his ordination to the office of apostle in Far West on December 19, 1838, from Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. Page and fellow apostle Orson Hyde were called to travel and preach in the Holy Land and dedicate the land for the return of the Jews. He and Hyde started on their mission, but Page had a change of heart and never left the United States. In June 1841, in Philadelphia, apostle George A. Smith sought him out and encouraged him to complete his preparations and sail with Hyde in two days time. Page refused to go. While in Philadelphia, Page became involved in a controversy with some of the Latter Day Saints there, which led to a directive from Assistant President of the ChurchHyrum Smith instructing Page to return to church headquarters at Nauvoo, Illinois. After the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, Page made a brief claim to the leadership of the church. The majority of the Latter Day Saints, under the direction of Brigham Young, rejected Page's claim, but retained him in his position with the Quorum of the Twelve. Page was then called to serve in the Council of Fifty to help plan and facilitate the church's move to the Rocky Mountains. After urging the Latter Day Saints to follow James J. Strang as leader of the church, Page was excommunicated on June 27, 1846. Ezra T. Benson was called by Young to replace Page in the Quorum. Although Page was an apostle under Joseph Smith and President of the Quorum of the Twelve under Strang, he eventually came to reject both leaders as "fallen prophets". He later became affiliated with the organization of James C. Brewster and Hazen Aldrich, and later that of Granville Hedrick. He was instrumental in helping the Church of Christ obtain possession of the Temple Lot in Independence, Missouri. Page died in 1867 in DeKalb County, Illinois.
