The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-11-04
MRS. SAGE, One OF WORLDS RICHEST
WOMEN, DEAD AT new YORK HOME

New York, Nov. Mrs. Russell
Sage, widow of Russell Sage, the fl
nancier died early this morning at
her residence here. She has been in
feeble health for several years. She
was ninety years old.
Mrs. Sage was one of the richest
women in the world.
Three or four days ago her condi- l.
ton became serious and the end was
not unexpected. Her death was
caused by ailments due to advanced
age. Also due to the same cause
Mrs. Sage has been virtually a re-
cluse in her Fifth avenue house for I
several years. She has been seen but /
rarely in public and her trips were
limited to close friends and relatives. |
A nurse on duty in Mrs. Sage's |
room noticed a change in the patients |
condition shortly after midnight |
Mrs. Sage died about an hour later.
Margaret Olivia Sage, until she
reached middle life had only the mea-
gre income of a school teacher and
then in a day she found herself mis-
tress of one of the greatest fortunes
in America. Her early days were
devoted to scraping together enough
| money to give herself a fair educa-
ton, and her last were spent in de-
veloping the science of giving money
| away. During the last seven years
Of complete STEWARDSHIP of the $780,
! 100000 left by her husband, Russell
| Sage, she returned nearly $30,0OO,OO0
! to the public by systematic philan-
thropies.
my experience has taught me-" she
had said recently, that successful
people are those who take what comes
to hand, and, if it be small, wait
and work for something better. The
root of failure lies often in the
| thought that you can do but one thing
and must do that or nothing"
This practical philosophy developed
when she was a girl in Syracuse, N.
Y, her birthplace. Her father, Jo-
seph SIocun1, was so reduced in cir
cumstances by the panic of 1887 that
| the daughter, at the age of only nine
years was obliged to help in the up
| keep of the household At the age
Of 16 she started for Mount Holyoke
College expecting to work her way
for four years by housework, but sick
! ness overlook her on her way and
she was compelled to stop at an I'M
cle's house in Troy. Later she was
induced to enter Emma Wizards
| Seminary at Troy, and after a hard
battle for self-support she was grad
4 uated and became a school teacher.
! For nearly 20 years afterward she
| continued her battle, teaching schools
in Philadelphia, Syracuse and Troy
until, at the age of Al years, she be-
came the wife of Russell Sage, then
frugal banker at Watervliet, N. Y.
Their home life was simple, despite
their great wealth Mrs Sage took
such a deep interest in her husbands
affairs that he turned over to her five
years before his death complete con-
troll of his business and found that
his faith was borne out by her sue
cessful operations. But she was the
proudest of her ability to support her
self altogether Independent of wealth,
and Of her housekeeping.
Mrs Sage was a "woman's wom-
an" and her charities were largely
directed to the aid of women and
children She became widely known
as lady bount1ful'' and was so be-
sieged with requests for money that
she had to retire finally to seclusion
Begging letters have been received at
her Fifth avenue home at the rate of
500 a day. So insistent were the
hordes that they sometimes gathered
in numbers about her doors
Mrs Sage was a little woman and
extremely self-conrolled. She gave,
and gave literally but was so determ-
ined that her giving should be done
wisely afted her husbands death she
established the Russell Sage Founda-
ton with 10000 900 for the improve
ment of social and living conditions in
the United States. Outside of this
r she had made large gifts including
$1,000, 600 to the Emma Willard Sem
mary, $1,000.000 to Rensselaer, Poly
technic Institute, $35O,0OO to the Y.
M. and Y. w. C. A, $15O,O0O to the
American Seaman's Institute, $780,
600 to the Mortified, Mass, Sem
mary, 100000 to the Sage Institute
Of Pathology of the New York City
. Hospital, S250,000 for a home for in
digent women, and 100000 to SYRIA
cuse University.
She was born Sept. 8, 1928, eighth
in descent, through her father, from
Miles Standish, and on her maternal
side a descendant Of Col. Henry Pier
son of Sag Harbor, N. Y, founder of
the public school system in America