Page-Nelson Society Events

Society meetings
Several admission-paid events are open to full and associate members, their families, and guests. These events are entirely self-supporting and, only in very rare instances, may be designated as partially tax-exempt to attendees.  


Annual meetings and tours
The Society holds an annual meeting program that offers members opportunities to tour and gain information about sites (both public and privately owned) associated with Pages and Nelsons and related families that have played significant roles in colonial and early federal history. These meetings frequently celebrate the contributions of Thomas Nelson, Jr., signer of the Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary governor of Virginia, and Governor John Page of Rosewell, Revolutionary patriot and member of the first U.S. congress. Society events also focus on collateral family connections, from whom many members descend, including Robert "King" Carter of Corotoman, Nicolas Martiau, William Byrd I, Benjamin Harrison IV of Berkeley, and Bishop William Meade.  

Family Reunions
Every three or four years, the Society holds a Reunion in an area of particular historical interest and relevance to members of the Page and Nelson families. These events generally occupy three days, include annual business meetings, programs of historical interest, tours of houses, churches, and public buildings relevant to family interest, and festive meals that give cousins the chance to get acquainted and reacquainted.  


Other participatory events
Members also participate in events of historical significance. These include Yorktown Day, held annually on October 19, to celebrate the 1781 surrender of Lord Charles Cornwallis to General George Washington, effectively ending the American Revolution; and the Yorktown Tea Party reenactment previously scheduled for the first weekend in November (subject to change).

 The following events are open to full and associate members, their families, and guests. Reservation forms for each event with detailed information about meeting places and admission will be posted in advance for those interested in attending.

• 2024 Annual Meeting - Details to be announced.

• 2023 - Annual Meeting - Three Day Event - May 15th - Poplar Forest, May 16th - Williamsburg, Yorktown, Rosewell, May 17th - Christ Church
• 2022 - Annual Meeting - May 12th - Monticello tour with private access to the Monticello Cemetery
• 2021 - Annual Meeting - Dec 29th, 7-9pm EST - Primarily Zoom event due to COVID-19
• 2020 - Annual Meeting - Rosewell - Nov 21st 11am-2pm - Primarily Zoom event due to COVID-19
•  2019 - Mount Gilead Christmas Party - Dec 7th 2-5pm  - Hosted by Ted McCord
•  2019 - Annual Meeting and Family Reunion - Belvoir-Cemetery, Cismont/Keswick, Virginia, Grace Church (Cismont)
•  2018 - Annual Meeting - The new Yorktown American Revolution Museum, Nelson House, Grace Church 
•  2017 - Annual Meeting -  Rosewell Plantation
•  2016 - Annual Meeting -  Rosewell Plantation and Exchange
•  2015 - Annual Meeting -  Christ Church
•  2014 - Family Reunion - Williamsburg, Yorktown, Rosewell BBQ, Gloucester County, Virginia
•  2013 - Annual Meeting -  Warsaw, Va - Menokin (home of signer of the Declaration of independence, Francis Lightfoot Lee) and Sabine Hall (Home of Col Landon Carter, the son of Robert "King" Carter).
•  2012 - Annual Meeting -  Long Branch, Clark County, VA
•  2011 - Annual Meeting -  Long Branch, Clark County, VA (Cancelled due to snow!)
•  2010 - Family Reunion - Fort Monroe, Williamsburg, Yorktown, Gloucester County, Virginia
•  2009 - Annual Meeting -  Yorktown, York County, VA
•  2008 - Annual Meeting -  The Mariners' Museum - Newport News, VA 
•  2007 - Annual Meeting -  Stratford Hall (birthplace of two Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a generation later - of Robert E. Lee)
•  2006 - Family Reunion -  St. John's Church & Cemetery (Richmond) and Capital Square (Richmond), homes (Oakland, Springfield, Edgewood, Taylor's Creek), Old Fork Church, Sycamore Tavern (Montpelier)
•  2005 - Annual Meeting -  Jamestown
•  2004 - Annual Meeting -  James River Plantations -  Westover, built by William Byrd I, and Berkeley, built by Benjamin Harrison III
•  2003 - Annual Meeting -  Historic Christ Church and the site of Corotoman, home of Robert "King" Carter, Lancaster County, Virginia
•  2002 - Family Reunion - Abingdon Church and Rosewell (Gloucester), Bruton Parish Church (Williamsburg), Yorktown
•  2001 - Annual Meeting -  Clarke County, Virginia
•  2000 - Annual Meeting - Grace Church (Yorktown)
• 1997 - Family Reunion - Home (Turkey Hill, Kinlock Farm, Belvoir-Cemetery, Maxfield Farm, Cloverfield Farm, Castle Hill Farm), Cismont/Keswick, Virginia, Grace Church (Cismont), University of Virginia tour, and Boar's Head Inn (Dinner)
• 1994 - Family Reunion - Williamsburg, Yorktown, Gloucester County, Virginia
• 1940 - The original Page Family Reunion on William & Mary Charter Day

Course : Beyond the History Books: Colonial Virginia Viewed Through One Family and the Mansion They Built 

Location: Rosewell Foundation Visitors’ Center and Rosewell Ruin 

Instructor: Mary H. Claycomb and others 

Content: Five generation of the Page family were prominent in the governance and stability of Virginia from the mid-1600s to the early Federal period. From the 1689 marriage of Mathew Page (second son of English immigrant John Page) to Mary Mann, sole heiress of the Timberneck grant (of which the Rosewell tract was the westernmost quarter) through the building of the Rosewell mansion to the sale of the mansion and surrounding acres by the heirs of Governor John Page in 1738-9, the program will show how the names of Page and Rosewell were intertwined with those of other leading families and their houses.   

In addition to the well-documented story of the Page family and their powerful influence on the early history of Virginia and the nation, the course will cover the remnants of architectural details of the interior and exterior of the prodigy mansion; the known facts of its 25-year apogee as a center of hospitality and culture; surviving records of the slaves whose labor enabled that legend; and an overview of the dramatic economic, legislative, military, and social conditions against which the 150-year story unfolded.