Title	1906-07-28: Mr. Sage's Will
Creator	The Troy (N.Y.) Record
Date Created	1906-07-28
Decade	1900s
Index Terms	Russell Sage, will Russell Sage, character Margaret Olivia (Mrs. Russell) Sage, inherits his fortune
Commentary	Great anticipation surrounded the publication of Russell Sage's will after his death in July 1906 at the age of almost ninety. The financier had strong ties to the City of Troy, New York. He went there at the age of twelve to work as an errand boy, and there he made his first successful speculations and his first fortune. He also entered municipal and then state politics. Sage served two terms in Congress from Troy as a Whig in the 1850s. Moving to New York in the 1860s, Sage made a vast fortune through speculation on Wall Street. By 1900 he was the owner of numerous railroads, as well as Western Union and the Pacific Steamship Company. Russell Sage was equally known for his miserliness as for his wealth. This brief but interesting piece notes Sage's wealth, skates over his miserliness, and describes the will's provision that almost all of his fortune (estimated at $75 million, more than $1.5 billion in today's currency) would go to his widow, Margaret Olivia (Mrs. Russell) Sage as "natural." The respectful tone of this piece reflects the hope of Troy's civic leaders that his widow would reward the town with the money made by their famous native son, money over which she now had complete discretionary control. [Crocker, Mrs. Russell Sage, p. 24-25, 76]. [Commentary written by Dr. Ruth Crocker]
Item Description	This image is a newspaper clipping of an editorial discussing the will of Russell Sage, husband of Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage. [Item Description created by Auburn University Libraries]
Publisher	The Troy (N.Y.) Record
Language	eng
File Name	29.jpg
Digital Publisher	Auburn University Libraries
Mini-Collections	Russell Sage Wills and bequests