On November 21, 1829, Samuel Page and Harriet Wiggin, both of Orono, filed an intention to marry.1 On August 30, 1830, Samuel Page 2d and Julia Dudley, both of Orono, filed an intention to marry.2 Their censuses show that these two men were about the same age. Harriet's husband is 50 in 18503, and Julia's is 48.4 These two men were probably first cousins–more on that later, maybe.
Earlier in Orono, Stephen Page and Annie Ayers had a son, Samuel, born 30 March 1801.5 Which of the two Samuels above, if either, was Stephen and Annie's son?
The first time I looked at these families was at least 20 years ago and I remember that at the time I was certain that Harriet's husband was Stephen and Annie's son. I took another look about a week ago and couldn't for the life of me figure out why I thought so. Then I remembered that the probate records of Penobscot County, Maine, were online at familysearch. There I found the probate records of Stephen Page's estate in 1857.
Stephen died on January 4, 1857, and on March 2 his widow Jane requested that Samuel Page be made administrator.6 I think it is safe to assume that she asked her husband's son Samuel to handle the responsibility, and not a nephew. I am pretty sure this was Samuel Page who married Harriet Wiggin for two reasons.
A bit of negative evidence: there are a lot of documents in the file and not once is Samuel called Samuel 2nd. Nor does he ever sign his name as Samuel 2nd. I don't know if that proves anything–maybe they would have just assumed which Samuel they were dealing with. On the other hand, the Penobscot County land records are also online and they do refer to both Samuel and Samuel 2nd.
More important is the fact that at a court session held in May 1858 in connection with the estate, a Charles F Page appeared as a witness for the widow, Jane Page. If he testified his testimony either wasn't recorded or wasn't preserved, but he claimed a travel allowance for attending one day.7 Charles F Page was the son of Samuel Page and Harriet Wiggin. He was born about 1833 and is named in the household of Samuel and Harriet in 1850 and 1860.3, 8 Samuel calls him one of "my children" in his will written 4 April 1877.9 It's a lot more likely that Jane's lawyer would call her husband's grandson as a witness rather than his brother's grandson.
The short answer is I don't know. Based on his year of birth he is very likely a grandson of Joseph Page, one of the early settlers of the Orono area. Joseph had 4 sons: Joseph, James, Isaac, and the Stephen mentioned above. My money would be on the son Joseph as Samuel 2nd's father, since Samuel named his first son Joseph. But that is not enough evidence to say for sure.
For more on the Page family, see the Page and Paige tags in this section of the site and the Page and Paige surnames in the New England Families section.
1 "Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q28Q-HMM1), image 201, Entry for Samuel Page and Harriet Wiggin, 21 November 1829.
2 Source: Town Records of Old Town, Maine. Microfilm at New England Historic and Genealogical Society. Section 2. Births, Deaths, Marriages and Misc. Town Records, 1827 - 1839 Marriages, starting on page 201.) The Page-Dudley record is on page 207.
3 1850 Census, Maine, Penobscot, Orono, Series M432, Roll 264, Page 258, dwelling 295, family 393, "United States Census, 1850", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6V3-62R : Fri Mar 08 01:03:38 UTC 2024), Entry for Samuel Page and Harriet Page, 1850.
4 1850 Census, Maine, Penobscot, Orono, Maine, Penobscot, Orono, Series M432, Roll 264, Page 257A, dwelling 273, family 370. "United States Census, 1850", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6VS-YG8), Entry for Martha McPheters and Saml Page, 1850.
5 Orono Town Records.
6 Penobscot. Probate Records 1816–1892, 1839, Probate Estate Case Files 1816–1892, 1839 (image 374). Currently available by doing a live text search at https://familysearch.org/en/labs.
7 Penobscot. Probate Records 1816–1892, 1839, Probate Estate Case Files 1816–1892, 1839 (image 379).
8 Maine, Penobscot, Orono, Veazie Post Office Series M653, Roll 446, Page 910, family 154, dwelling 154, "United States Census, 1860", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDCH-Z3B), Entry for Samuel Page and Harriet Page, 1860.
9 Penobscot. Probate Records 1816–1892, 1839, Probate Estate Case Files 1816–1892, 1839 (image 339).