RUSSELL SAGE
Name: Russell Sage
Born: 4 August 1816
Died: 22 July 1906
Russell Sage (4 August 1816 - 22 July 1906) was a financier and politician from
New York, United States.
Sage was born at Verona in Oneida County, New York. He received a public school
education and worked as a farm hand until he was 15, when he became an errand
boy in a grocery conducted by his brother, Henry R. Sage, in Troy, New York. He
had a part interest in 1837-1839 in a retail grocery in Troy, and in a wholesale
store there in 1839-1857. In 1841 he was elected an alderman, and he was re-elected
to this office until 1848, also serving for seven years as treasurer of
Rensselaer County. He was then elected to Congress as a Whig, and served, with
re-election, from 5 December 1853 until 3 March 1857. He served on the Ways and
Means Committee. Sage was the first person to advocate, on the floor of Congress,
the purchase of Mount Vernon by the government. Subsequently he settled in New
York City and engaged in the business of selling puts and calls and privileges
on Wall Street.
On 7 May 1867, Sage's first wife died of stomach cancer. This purportedly led to
his focus on the accumulation of wealth later in life. In 1869, Sage was
involved in a case concerning the usury laws in New York state, accused of being
the gang leader in an usury group. He was convicted and fined $500, but his jail
sentence was suspended. Later that year, Sage married his second wife, Olivia
Slocum.
He bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange (1874) and thereafter was known
as a financier. At the same time he became interested in railroads, and secured
stocks in western roads, notably the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad,
of which he was president and vice-president for twelve years. By disposing of
these investments, as the smaller roads were absorbed by trunk-lines, he became
wealthy.
In his later years he was closely associated with Jay Gould in the management of
the Wabash Railway, St. Louis and Pacific, Missouri Pacific Railroad, Missouri-Kansas-Texas
Railroad, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and the St. Louis - San
Francisco Railway, the American cable company, the Western Union telegraph
company and the Manhattan consolidated system of elevated railroads in New York
city, in all of which corporations he was a director. Mr. Sage was for many
years closely connected with the affairs of the Union Pacific Railroad, of which
he was a director. He was a director and vice-president in the Importers and
Traders' National Bank for twenty years, and also a director in the Merchants'
Trust Company and in the Fifth Avenue Bank of New York City.
In 1891, a man toting a dynamite bomb appeared in his office and demanded a
large amount of money. His demand was refused, and the bomb exploded, killing
the bomb-toting man and Sage's secretary.
In 1906 he died and left his entire fortune of about $70 million to his wife,
Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828-1918), who subsequently devoted a major
portion of these funds to philanthropy. In 1907 she established the Russell Sage
Foundation, and in 1916 she founded Russell Sage College in Troy. In addition
she gave extensively to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and the Emma
Willard School.
Name: Russell Sage
Born: 4 August 1816
Died: 22 July 1906
Russell Sage (4 August 1816 - 22 July 1906) was a financier and politician from
New York, United States.
Sage was born at Verona in Oneida County, New York. He received a public school
education and worked as a farm hand until he was 15, when he became an errand
boy in a grocery conducted by his brother, Henry R. Sage, in Troy, New York. He
had a part interest in 1837-1839 in a retail grocery in Troy, and in a wholesale
store there in 1839-1857. In 1841 he was elected an alderman, and he was re-elected
to this office until 1848, also serving for seven years as treasurer of
Rensselaer County. He was then elected to Congress as a Whig, and served, with
re-election, from 5 December 1853 until 3 March 1857. He served on the Ways and
Means Committee. Sage was the first person to advocate, on the floor of Congress,
the purchase of Mount Vernon by the government. Subsequently he settled in New
York City and engaged in the business of selling puts and calls and privileges
on Wall Street.
On 7 May 1867, Sage's first wife died of stomach cancer. This purportedly led to
his focus on the accumulation of wealth later in life. In 1869, Sage was
involved in a case concerning the usury laws in New York state, accused of being
the gang leader in an usury group. He was convicted and fined $500, but his jail
sentence was suspended. Later that year, Sage married his second wife, Olivia
Slocum.
He bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange (1874) and thereafter was known
as a financier. At the same time he became interested in railroads, and secured
stocks in western roads, notably the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad,
of which he was president and vice-president for twelve years. By disposing of
these investments, as the smaller roads were absorbed by trunk-lines, he became
wealthy.
In his later years he was closely associated with Jay Gould in the management of
the Wabash Railway, St. Louis and Pacific, Missouri Pacific Railroad, Missouri-Kansas-Texas
Railroad, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and the St. Louis - San
Francisco Railway, the American cable company, the Western Union telegraph
company and the Manhattan consolidated system of elevated railroads in New York
city, in all of which corporations he was a director. Mr. Sage was for many
years closely connected with the affairs of the Union Pacific Railroad, of which
he was a director. He was a director and vice-president in the Importers and
Traders' National Bank for twenty years, and also a director in the Merchants'
Trust Company and in the Fifth Avenue Bank of New York City.
In 1891, a man toting a dynamite bomb appeared in his office and demanded a
large amount of money. His demand was refused, and the bomb exploded, killing
the bomb-toting man and Sage's secretary.
In 1906 he died and left his entire fortune of about $70 million to his wife,
Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828-1918), who subsequently devoted a major
portion of these funds to philanthropy. In 1907 she established the Russell Sage
Foundation, and in 1916 she founded Russell Sage College in Troy. In addition
she gave extensively to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and the Emma
Willard School.