Financier. Began in grocery business in Troy, New York. He held a large portion of ownership in railroads and Western Union. U.S. Representative from New York, 1853-1857.
LAWRENCE, N. Y., July 23.-Russell Sage. New York's great veteran financier died suddenly yesterday afternoon at his country borne bore, Cedarcroft. The immediate cause of death was heart failure resulting from a complication of diseases incident to old age. The veteran financier would have celebrated his ninetieth birthday on Aug. 4. Mr. Sage had been in exceptionally good health since his arrival at his summer home about six months ago. At noon he was seized with a sinking spell and collapsed rapidly, falling into unconsciousness about two hours before his death, which occurred at 4:30 o'clock. There were present at the end Mrs. Sage, her brother. Colonel J. J. Slocum; the Rev. Dr. Robert Leetch, Dr. Theodore S. Janeway of New York, Dr. J. Carl Schmuck, a local physician, and Dr. John P. Munn, for many years Mr. Sage's family physician, who was summoned from New York when the first alarming symptoms were manifest. Mrs. Sage and her brother, Colonel Slocum, are named as the executors of Mr. Sage's will. Russell Sage, who was looked upon as the greatest of American money lenders, was born in Shenandoah, Oneida county. N. Y„ on Aug. 4, 1816; was reared on a farm and began business as an errand boy in his brother's grocery store in Troy, He rose to clerk, later acquired a wholesale business and became an alderman of Troy. Becoming interested in railways, he moved to New York during the war and started buying and selling "privileges" on Wall Street. At the close of the civil war, he was reputed to be worth $6,000.000. Mr. Sage was the principal manipulator in the Union Pacific railway consolidation scheme with Jay Gould and he became the controlling power in the elevated railroads and opposed the abolition of the coal oil lamps. He usually paid $12 a suit for his clothes and wore three suits a year. His daily luncheon downtown cost 20 cents. A bomb was thrown at him by a man named Norcross in 1891. He used Walter Laidlaw, a clerk, as a shield, and Laidlaw sought payment for the injuries he received, but Mr. Sage Avon out in the lawsuits. He got out of a sick bed to loan money when rates were high and made $555 in one day. At the time of his death, he was estimated to be worth $100,000,000, principally in railroad securities. He was a director in about fifty large railway and other corporations and be held in the Presbyterian Church, Far Rockaway, tomorrow at 4 p. m. The burial will be in Oakland cemetery, Troy. There is much speculation as to what disposition he has made of his vast estate. "Everybody will be surprised, for they will not know what I have done with my money until I am dead," was Mr. Sage's confidence to a friend about a year ago.
(The Evening Enterprise, Pokeepsie, Dutchess Co., N.Y., Monday, July 23, 1906)
Financier. Began in grocery business in Troy, New York. He held a large portion of ownership in railroads and Western Union. U.S. Representative from New York, 1853-1857.
LAWRENCE, N. Y., July 23.-Russell Sage. New York's great veteran financier died suddenly yesterday afternoon at his country borne bore, Cedarcroft. The immediate cause of death was heart failure resulting from a complication of diseases incident to old age. The veteran financier would have celebrated his ninetieth birthday on Aug. 4. Mr. Sage had been in exceptionally good health since his arrival at his summer home about six months ago. At noon he was seized with a sinking spell and collapsed rapidly, falling into unconsciousness about two hours before his death, which occurred at 4:30 o'clock. There were present at the end Mrs. Sage, her brother. Colonel J. J. Slocum; the Rev. Dr. Robert Leetch, Dr. Theodore S. Janeway of New York, Dr. J. Carl Schmuck, a local physician, and Dr. John P. Munn, for many years Mr. Sage's family physician, who was summoned from New York when the first alarming symptoms were manifest. Mrs. Sage and her brother, Colonel Slocum, are named as the executors of Mr. Sage's will. Russell Sage, who was looked upon as the greatest of American money lenders, was born in Shenandoah, Oneida county. N. Y„ on Aug. 4, 1816; was reared on a farm and began business as an errand boy in his brother's grocery store in Troy, He rose to clerk, later acquired a wholesale business and became an alderman of Troy. Becoming interested in railways, he moved to New York during the war and started buying and selling "privileges" on Wall Street. At the close of the civil war, he was reputed to be worth $6,000.000. Mr. Sage was the principal manipulator in the Union Pacific railway consolidation scheme with Jay Gould and he became the controlling power in the elevated railroads and opposed the abolition of the coal oil lamps. He usually paid $12 a suit for his clothes and wore three suits a year. His daily luncheon downtown cost 20 cents. A bomb was thrown at him by a man named Norcross in 1891. He used Walter Laidlaw, a clerk, as a shield, and Laidlaw sought payment for the injuries he received, but Mr. Sage Avon out in the lawsuits. He got out of a sick bed to loan money when rates were high and made $555 in one day. At the time of his death, he was estimated to be worth $100,000,000, principally in railroad securities. He was a director in about fifty large railway and other corporations and be held in the Presbyterian Church, Far Rockaway, tomorrow at 4 p. m. The burial will be in Oakland cemetery, Troy. There is much speculation as to what disposition he has made of his vast estate. "Everybody will be surprised, for they will not know what I have done with my money until I am dead," was Mr. Sage's confidence to a friend about a year ago.
(The Evening Enterprise, Pokeepsie, Dutchess Co., N.Y., Monday, July 23, 1906)
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