The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-01-26
RUSSELL SAGE.
Still Steady Accumulation of Money
But Safe Investor.
Utica Press.


Utica Press)
About one mile east of Oneida and in
Oneida county is. the old home of Russell
sage. All that remains of the house is a
small part Of the foundation wall, the old
well and some low shrub trees. 1t was
located on the old state road leading from
Rome to Oneida castle. The house stood
on high elevation, from which the en-
tire city OF Oneida can be seen, and 10
the south of the rolling hills of the Stock
bridge valley. 1t was here that Russell
Sage spent his boyhOOd DAYS and lived
until ne was Is years old. There were
six children of the Sage family. five boys
and one girl, whose name was Fanny and
who married Samuel Chaplin and has al
ways lived in Oneida. She is 93 years old
and Is the only one living of the family
aside from Mr.. Sage.
Russell Sage was the only one of the
children who amasSed a large fortune
His properties have been carefully Sc
leeted and his wealth is estimated at
SlOt .00O,O01. ANY CONFUSION in the market
would not reduce this very much. Mr.
Sage operates on one principle and that
is what old Cornelius Vanderbilt al
ways adhered to, to own what you buy
and not buy anything that does not pay
dividend. At the age of IS Mr. Sage
went to Troy ana was clerk for his
brother. who owned a grocery store. For
thirty years we hear nothing of Russell
Sage, but in 1S4S he was elected to con-
EI6SS from the Troy district and served
Two TERMS During the time he was in
congress he was chosen delegate 10
the national convention that nominated
Zachary Taylor for president Mr. Sage
claims that ii was through him Taylor
was nominated. There is some evidence
to prove the fact, for. after Mr.. Taylor
was elected president he offered Mr.
sage place in his cabinet as secretary
of the treasury. but he refused it,
On his return TO Troy and about two
ler for he N-r.rr~ Y
and opened an Office in Wall street. He
was the inventor of what is known as the
puts and sails a mode Of operating in
stocks unknown before. 1t was a raoid
and quick way OF dealing in securities in
stead of the slow process of the stock
exchange. II was genteel style Of
gambling. No stock exchanged hands
1t Is still in vogue in Wall street, but not
by Russell Sage. This was the beginning
of his fortune. the largest with the ex-
ception Of two others ever amassed BY
any living man in 50 short a time.
What will become of this great fortune
IS problem to solve. Mr.. Sage has no
children, but of blood relatives there are
eighteen and ten of them live in Oneida.
They are the children of Samuel Chaplin.
Some live in Troy and some in Illinois.
Mr. Sage has lived far beyond the allot-
ted time of man and according to the
usual course of nature his decline from
this time on must be rapid. On the 9Th
day of next August he will be 81 years
OF age, and is still actively engaged in
business. His love for accommodating
wealth is as strong as ever. His chart
ties have probably been few, for We have
not heard much of him in that respect.
Mr. Sage's first wife was Maria Winney
of Troy. She was a graduate of Miss
Wizards school in Troy and a very
charitable woman. After her death Mr..
Sage gave 100000 for the erection of a
dormitory for this school. as a memorial
of his wife. Mr.. Sage's second wife was
Olivia Siocum of Syracuse. who was a
school teacher in Albany at the time of
her marriage. She was a close friend OF
his first wife and a sister of Colonel Slo-
cum. who at the present time is Mr.
Sage's confidential man in his office.
q g @
There are many stories told of Mr.. Sage
in the newspapers but they are highly
cOlOred. 4 few years ago a story Went
the rounds of the newspapers that JAY
Gould and Russell Sage stole a railroad
out in Colorado. This brought on a suit
that lasted five years, but the courts gave
them the title to the road. 1t is now
owned By Mr.. Sage. and with the land
granted connected with il. is valued at
49, 600 His stock in the Manhattan
Elevated road makes a part OF his great
wealth. OF the S6o000,0G stock George
Gould and Russell Sage own s4e009'oee.
This gives them full control. but his bank
stock and other securities will almost
equal that of the Manhattan.
When Thomas Scott was president OF
the Pennsylvania railroad he came to
New York to borrow s., 100000. 1t was TO
pay for road 80 connect with the Penn
syyaniss main line and he wanted the
ready cash. Sage was the only man IN
New York ne could borrow that amount
from. He hypothetical 100000 Of Sc
curities with Sage and it took ilVe DAYS
TO raise the money and eight banks 10
furnish IT, When these big drafts come
they notify the banks and give them
three days in which To get ready. Tor no
bank could stand one Of these large
drafts without being notified in advance
Oneida county was Mr.. Sage's birth
place and he always referred TO II Win
some pride. The Mohawk valley and the
handsome surroundings of Utica ne
called the garden of the Empire state. II
NAV be in the course of human eNehIs
that Utica will receive a million or TWO
from Mr. Sage for some charitable instl-
! tuition that would be a monument 10 per-
petuate his name.