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(XI) Stephen
Hyatt Pelham, son of John Howland and
Caroline Townsend (Hyatt) Pell, was born at
Flushing, Long island, February 3, 1874. He
received his education in the Flushing
Institute, and became a banker and broker,
with offices at No. 43 Exchange Place, New
York City. he served in the
Spanish-American war on board the United
States cruiser, "Yankee". He is a
republican and Episcopalian; director of the
International Nickel Company, Wire and
Telephone Company of America, Empire Trust
Company, American Mines Development Company,
Massey Station Mining Company, S. Osgood
Pell & Company, member of American
Geographical Society, American Botanical
Society, American Museum of Natural History,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Historical Society, American Scenic and
Historic Preservation Society, and of the
following
Page 240
Clubs, St. Nicholas,
New York Yacht, Tuxedo, Automobile Club of
America, Midday, Turf and Field, Colonial
Order, County, Army and Navy, Order of
Colonial Wars and St. Nicholas Society.
In 1908 Mr.
Pell visited Fort Ticonderoga for the first
time in twenty-five years. he was much
impressed with the beauty and possibilities
of the place, just as his ancestor had been
a hundred and six years before, and
immediately proceeded to buy our the other
heirs. Having succeeded, he started to
restore the property to something of its
former beauty. The Fort itself had bee a
"Happy Huntingground" for relic hunters and
excursionists for many years, and the few
remaining walls were in a state of great
dilapidation, ready to fall at any moment.
Colonel robert M. Thompson, father-in-law of
Mr. Pell, became interested in the
restoration of the fort proper, and
authorized the rebuilding of the West
Barracks and the Northwest and Southwest
Bastions, which work was completed the
following year. Old cannons were stationed
along the ramparts, and it once again
assumed the appearance it boasted when
Abercrombie, Montcalm, Amherst, Allen and
Arnold were leading figures there, and
enacted world history, the important facts
of which are common to everyone. The
restored building was made a museum, and in
it are now stored the many relics which were
found during the work, as well as many
interesting articles connected with the
French and Indian wars and the Revolution,
collected by the present owners with much
pains. It likewise contains one of the most
valuable historical libraries on the
country, in so far as the relation of the
books to the conflicts of northern New York,
numbering into the thousands. The estate at
present consists of about two thousand
acres, lying on both sides of Lake
Champlain, and includes the historic Mount
Independence, in Vermont, upon which were
quartered the greater part of the army which
retreated before Burgoyne, in 1777. From
the ramparts one gains an admirable view of
Lake Champlain, extending northwards to
where Arnold's famous naval combat took
place, and southward towards Whitehall,
being the course taken by General Arthur St.
Clair's army when Burgoyne was at its
heels. The whole scene brings back to mind
the manoeuvres of a century and a quarter
ago, if one is acquainted with the story.
On the lower plain, close to the shore, is
The Pavilion, which Mr. Pell's family
occupies as a summer residence.
Stephen H. P.
Pell married, at new York, April 17, 1901,
Sarah Gibbs Thompson, born at Boston,
Massachusetts, May 30, 1879, Colonel Robert
M. and Sarah (Gibbs) Thompson. The latter a
daughter of Governor M. C. Gibbs, of Rhode
Island. Children: 1. Robert Thompson, born
at New York, March 9, 1902. 2. John
Howland Gibbs, born at Southampton, Long
Island, August 9, 1904.
(XI) Theodore
Roosevelt, eighth child of John Howland and
Caroline Townsend (Hyatt) Pell, was born at
Yonkers, New York, May 12, 1878, and resides
in New York City. He was educated at the
Berkeley School in New York, and chose the
real estate business for his profession,
with offices at No. 542 Fifth Avenue, where
he is conducting a business principally in
suburban property, this having become one of
the well known firms of the city. He is a
Republican and Episcopalian, and a member of
the Society of Colonial Wars, St. Nicholas
Society, Sons of the Veterans of the Civil
War, Society of American Wars, Colonial
Order of the Acorn, and Order of Colonial
Lords of Manors in America. He married, at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 25,
1903, Florence, daughter of Edwin S. and
Dorothy Baird (Keefer) Cramp.
SMIDT.
Among the pioneer settlers of America none
occupied a more important position than the
smith whose skill supplied all nails used in
construction and nearly every implement
employed in the development of the various
industries. There were many who came from
England bearing this name, which was assumed
as a patronymic by many people of the old
world. The family herein traced descended
from a Dutch immigrant, who does not seem to
have adopted a surname until about the third
generation, as is the case with most of the
people of that origin in the state. Among
the most distinguished descendants of the
name was the noted scholar and
philanthropist, Gerrit Smith, who was born
in Madison County. In or near the city of
Tiel, on the Rhine in the Netherlands, lived
early in the seventeenth
240A-Picture of M. Van
Buren. EIGHTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
Page 241
century one Lambert, a
smidt. He was born not later then 1605, and
probably considerably earlier. His two
sons, Adriaen and Cornelius, appear in the
early records of New Netherlands and were
the founders of the family in America.
(I) Adriaen
Lambertsen Smidt, with his wife and six
children, and his nephew, Jacob Hendrix,
embarked in the good ship "De Rooseboom"
(The Rosetree), Captain Pieter Reyersz Van
der Bets, early in 1663, and reached New
Amsterdam on March 15, 1663. A close study
of the church records of that period has
revealed the names of four of these
children, namely: Cornelius Adriaensen,
Cathalina Adriaensen, Willemtje Adriaensen,
and Lambert Adriaensen. He was probably
like his father a smith by trade, and among
the original purchasers from the Indians of
a tract in the Tappan Patent, and for some
time lived there. He disposed of his
interest in the purchase sometime prior to
1704
(II) Lambert
Adriaensen, son of Adriaen Lambertsen Smidt,
resided at Tappan in 1695, and seems to have
been one of the leading men in the little
community, taking a deep interest in the
work of the Tappan church, and served as an
elder in the church. He was still living in
1750 and must have been at least ninety
years old. The records of the Tappan church
show the baptism of Lambert Adriaensen,
January 30, 1714. He married, in New York,
Margrietje Garretse Blauvelt, baptized march
27, 1670, in New York, daughter of Gerrit
Hendrycksen and his wife, Marie Lamberts,
the latter a daughter of Lambert Huybertson
Moll, of Bushwick (see Blauvelt I). they
had children baptized in New York: 1.
Marritje, July 25, 1683. 2. Gerrit,
mentioned below. 3. Adriaen. 4.
Cornelius, November, 1691. Those baptized
at Tappan: 5. Dirckie, October 24, 1695.
6. Tryntje, January 10, 1697. 7. Abraham,
October 13, 1703. 8. Lena, July 16, 1706.
(III) Gerrit,
eldest son of Lambert Adriaensen and
Margrietje Garretse (Blauvelt) Smidt, was
baptized November 15, 1685, in New York
City. he settled at Tappan, where he was
admitted to the church in 1708, and later
served as deacon and elder. This region was
then a part of Orange County, and he was a
member of the militia company of that county
in 1715. He was a smith by occupation, and
later appeared on the record of 1750. Part
of his children were baptized at Hackensack,
new jersey. he built a warehouse at
Greenbush (now Blauveltville), which was
torn down during the Revolution, and
afterwards rebuilt by his descendants. He
married, October 11, 1710, at Tappan,
Brechtje, daughter of Peter and Margaret
(Bogart) Haring. The latter was the
daughter of Jan Louwe Bogart, born 1630, and
his wife, Cornelia (Everts) Bogart. Peter
Haring, born August 13, 1664, was a son of
John Haring, who died December 7, 1683, and
his wife, Margaret (Cozine) haring, born May
5, 1640. Gerrit Smidt had children baptized
at Tappan: 1. Lambert, died young. 2.
Lambert, January 30, 1714. 3. Petrus,
mentioned below. At Hackensack: 4.
Margrietje, born July 21, 1719, baptism
recorded at both Tappan and Hackensack,
August 2, of the same year. 5. John
Peterson, April 25, 1724. 6. Arie,
September 27, 1729. 7. Brechtje, November
9, 1731. 8. Gerrit, September 17, 1736.
(IV) Petrus,
third son of Gerrit and Brechtje (Haring)
Smidt, was born November 20, 1716, baptized
January 15, 1717, at Tappan, and resided in
that neighborhood until after 1753. He
married, at Tappan, Annetje Blauvelt, born
August 29, 1716, baptized January 15, 1717,
at Tappan, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Myders)
Blauvelt. She was living in 1785. Isaac
Blauvelt was baptized April 24, 1692 (see
Blauvelt II). The baptisms of three
children of Petrus Smidt appear in the
church records of Tappan, namely: 1.
Gerrit, born June 15, 1743. 2. Isaac,
mentioned below. 3. Brechtje, August 11,
1753.
(V) Isaac,
second son of Petrus and Annetje (Blauvelt)
Smidt, was born December 28, 1746, baptized
January 4, 1747, at Tappan, and resided at
Greenbush, Orange County, New York. He was
a private in the second Orange Militia
Regiment, under colonel A. Hawk Hay. He
married Rachel ---------. Children: 1.
Teunis, mentioned below. 2. Petrus, born
June 25, 1780.
(VI) Teunis,
eldest son of Isaac and Rachel Smidt, was
born July 8, 1772, and baptized July 26,
1772. In 1807 he was surrogate of Rockland
County. He married, August 22, 1794, Maria
Smidt, both of them were born and lived in
Tappan. Children: 1. Rachel, born
October 26, 1795. 2. Cornelis, mentioned
below. 3. Annetje, March 12, 1803.
(VII) Cornelis, son of Teunis and Maria
Page 242
(Smidt) Smidt), was
born at Nyack, January 17, 1798. He owned
considerable land, was a Democrat in
politics, and belonged to the Dutch Reformed
Church. He married, in the Dutch Reformed
Church, of Tappan, Rockland County, New
York, April 1, 1820, Elinor Corneilson.
Children: 1. John C. T., mentioned below.
2. Mary Louise.
(VIII) John
C. T., son of Cornelis and Elinor (Corneilson)
Smidt, was born June 8, 1822. After leaving
school, he entered Rutgers College,
graduating in the class of 1843; he
afterwards began the study of the law and
was called to the bar in 1847. He was a
Democrat in politics, and a Protestant
Episcopalian in religion. He married, June
18, 1850, Jane Ann, daughter of Allan
Campbell and Jan Ann (Pray) Lee, on her
father's side a direct descendant of John
Eliot, the "Apostle of the Indians" (see
Eliot VI). Children: 1. Allan Lee,
mentioned below. 2. Louis, February 3,
1853. 3. Jeannie Lee, February 25, 1857.
4. Pierre Corneilson, November 26, 1858,
died February 27, 1882. 5. Frank Bishop,
mentioned below. 6. William henry, May 20,
1863.
(IX) Allan
Lee, eldest son of John C. T. and Jane Ann
(Lee) Smidt, was born in New York City, May
6, 1851. He received his education in the
public school, the College of the City of
New York, and acquired the degree of
Bachelor of Arts in 1870. He studied in the
New York Law School and attained the degree
of LL. D. in 1872. He was admitted to the
bar in 1873 and has had a general practice
since. He serve five years as a member of
the Seventh Regiment of the National Guard
of New York. He married, in 1877, in New
York City, Grace Lee, born in New York City,
in 1857, daughter of William Henry and
Louisa Maria (Northam) Lee. Children: 1.
Grace Lee Willing, born January 31, 1880;
died November 21, 1911. 2. Allan Campbell
Lee, mentioned below.
(IX) Frank
Bishop, fourth son of John C. T., and Jan
Ann (Lee) Smidt, was born in the city of New
York, February 20, 1860. After going
through the elementary course he went to
Columbia college, graduating in the class of
1882, as Bachelor of Arts. He began his
business career by entering the office of
the treasurer of the Northern Pacific
Railroad, where he was employed from 1882 to
1886. He is now assistant secretary of the
Central Trust Company of New York, and
trustee of the New York Savings Bank. He is
a Democrat in politics, and belongs to the
Protestant Episcopal Church. He is a member
of Phi Beta Kappa Society, Delta Chapter,
Columbia University, and belongs to the
Columbia University Club, the St. Nicholas
Society and the Holland Society.
(X) Allan
Campbell Lee, son of Allan Lee and Grace
(Lee) Smidt, was born in New York City,
September 29, 1882. He received his
education first in the public schools and
later from the Drisler School. He spent
three and a half years at Harvard College a
a member of the class of 1905. On leaving
Harvard he went into the offices of the New
York Central Railroad and was in the
executive department for five years. he then
went with Bond & Goodwin, bankers and
brokers, and is a salesman in that business
at the present time. He is a corporal in
Troop A, First Cavalry of the National Guard
of New York. He belongs to the Harvard
Club, the Polo Association of America, the
Squadron A Club, the St. Nicholas Society,
the Holland Society, and St. Thomas
Episcopal Church.
(The Eliot Line.)
THE FAMILY OF
John Eliot, "Apostle of the Indians", has
been traced back to October 30, 1598, when
his father, Bennett, and his mother, Letteye
(Aggar), were married, as it is recorded in
the parish register of the church of St.
John the Baptist, Widford, County of
Hertford, England. John came to America
with all his brothers and sisters.
(I) John
Eliot, minister and missionary to the
Indians of America, was baptized at Widford,
Hertfordshire, England, August 5, 1604, died
May 21, 1690. He was educated at Jesus
College, Cambridge, England, 16180-22;
taught in the school of Thomas Hooker at
Little Baddow, Essex, England, for part of
the time before he came to America, which
was in 1631 in the ship "Lyon". He landed
in Boston, November 4, took Mr. Wilson's
place in the Boston church during the
absence of the minister in England, and was
settled at Roxbury over the church in 1632.
In the records of the Roxbury church he
wrote: "He left behind him in England a
vertous young gentlewoman whom he had
pursued and purposed a marriage unto and she
coming here in the following year that
marriage was consummated in the month of
October, A. D., 1632."
Page 243
The lady was Hanna
Mountford, who came from England in 1832 and
whom he married in that year. Children:
1. Hannah, born September 17, 1633. 2.
John, mentioned below. 3. Joseph, December
20, 1638. 4. Samuel, June 22, 1641. 5.
Aaron, February 19, 1643. 6. Benjamin,
January 29, 1646.
(II) John
(2), the eldest son of John (I) and Hanna (Mountford)
Eliot, was born August 31, 1636, Died
October 13, 1668. He was A. B. at Harvard
college in 1656, and minister at Newton,
Massachusetts, and assistant to this father
in preaching to the Indians. In the class
of 1656, Harvard College, numbering eight,
his name is sixth on the list. For not less
than seven years subsequent to his
graduation he received compensation from the
commissioner of the United colonies for his
service to the Indians. He was ordained
minister to the First Church (then just
organized) at New Cambridge, now Newton,
Massachusetts, July 20, 1684. Gookin says:
"He preached the gospel to the Indians once
a fortnight constantly at Pakemit
(Stoughton) and sometimes at Natick and
other places; and the most judicious
Christian Indians esteemed very highly him a
a most excellent preacher in their
language, as I have often heard them say".
He died prophesying that God would reduce
New England into a heap. He married (first)
Sarah Willet, born May 4, 1643, died June
13, 1665; (second) Elizabeth Gookins, who
died November 31, 1700. Children: 1.
Sarah, baptized September 21, 1662. 2.
John, mentioned below.
(III) John
(3), son of John (2) and Elizabeth (Gookins)
Eliot, was born April 28, 1667, died March
25, 1719. He resided at Guilford and
Windsor, Connecticut. He was deputy tot he
general assembly of the state of Connecticut
and was speaker not less then eight times.
In 1708 he was granted a monopoly to
manufacture tar and pitch, and he also
accepted an offer from the town of Windsor
to work iron ore. During his residence at
Guilford he was employed as a school
teacher. A horizontal slab over his grave
in Windsor says he died "March ye 25, Anno
Christi 1719 Aetatis suae L11". He married
(first) October 31, 1699, Elizabeth,
daughter of Thomas Stoughton, and widow of
James Mackman, who was baptized November 18,
1660; (second) mary, daughter of john
Wolcott, who died in 1746. Children by
second wife: 1. Mary, March 28, 1708. 2.
Ann, February 12, 1710. 3. Elizabeth, May
14, 1712. 4. Sarah. 5. John, mentioned
below. 6. Hannah, November 9, 1719.
(IV) John
(4), son of John (3) and mary (Wolcott)
Eliot, was born January 21, 1717, died
November 27, 1790. He was A. B. at Harvard
College in 1737, and later a merchant in New
Haven, Connecticut, where he lived until
1760. From 1760 to 1770 he was a prominent
and influential resident of Spencer,
Massachusetts, where he owned a mansion
house and about four hundred and forty acres
of land, paid the largest taxes, and was
much in public life. Subsequently he
resided at Upper Middletown (now Cromwell,
Connecticut) where a record of his death is
found and where his will, dated September
21, 1790, is recorded in the probate records
of Middletown. He married, March 7, 1739,
Lydia, daughter of Jeremiah and Lydia (Rosewell)
Atwater, born October 18, 1715, died January
28, 1776. She had been divorced from her
first husband, Dr. Alexander Wolcott, at his
request, by whom she had three children.
After the death of his wife Lydia, it is
said that John married (second) Hannah
Phelps, of Simsbury, Connecticut.
Children: 1. Mary, born January 19, 1742.
2. John, April 22, 1745. 3. Sarah,
November 30, 1750. 4. Richard Rosewell,
October 8, 1752. 5. Hannah, August 25,
1755. 6. William, July 29, 1757. 7.
Lydia Ann, Mentioned below.
(V) Lydia
Ann, daughter of John (4) and Lydia
(Atwater-Wolcott) Eliot, was born June 22,
1760, died September 17, 1836. She married,
at Westerly, Rhode Island, February 4, 1784,
Dr. Daniel Lee. He is said to have been the
first Washington County, Rhode Island,
physician, the ministers having been the
physicians previous to his time. He died of
yellow fever, contracted while visiting a
patient at a southern port. Buried at first
in Westerly, his remains were removed in
1856 to Grove St. Cemetery, New Haven,
Connecticut. Children: 1. William Eliot.
2. Nancy Atwater. 3. Sophia 4.
Harriet. 5. Fanny. 6. Sophronia. 7.
Benjamin Franklin. 8. Daniel. 9. Allan
Campbell, mentioned below. 10. Charlotte.
11. Sally.
(VI) Allan
Campbell, son of Dr. Daniel and Lydia Ann
(Eliot) lee, was born October 26, 1799, at
Westerly, Rhode Island, and married Jane Ann
Pray, niece of Peter Mesier, of New York
City. Children: 1. William Pray,
Page 244
2. Eliza Palmer. 3.
Jane Ann, who married John C. T. Smidt (see
Smidt VIII).
SAGE. The Sage
family was without doubt of Scandinavian
origin, and he name at first was Saga. When
the Norsemen conquered Normandy, in France,
they generally softened the final "a"
tone, thus making Saga, Sage, and added a
French suffix to denote landed occupation.
To the first Norman Saga or Sage was added
ville or town, thus making it Sageville, or
Sagetown, or land. As these spread to other
countries the name was subjected to other
changes. In Germany it was Saige or Sauge,
the same in Switzerland, while in France it
was Le Sage. The name is first found in
England on the Battle Abbey Roll, in 1066.
This roll was prepared by the monks of
Battle Abbey at the command of William the
Conqueror, to perpetuate the names of those
who took part in the battle of Hastings,
which gave him the English throne. It is
there recorded Sageville. All of the name
in England, Scotland, and Wales originated
in this way. The family was granted a
coat-of-arms, which is used by the American
family.
(I) David
Sage, American ancestor of the family in
Troy, under consideration, was born in 1639,
a native of Wales. He was one of the first
settlers in Middletown, Connecticut, where
he is of record in 1652. He settled upon a
tract of land now part of the town of
Cromwell, upon the banks of the Connecticut
River, where some of his descendants yet
reside. His will, dated march 27, 1703, is
in the probate office at Hartford,
Connecticut. The stone marking his grave is
still standing in the riverside Cemetery, on
the bank of the Connecticut river, at the
north end of Main Street, Middletown, and
gave the date of his death as March, 1703,
o. s., and his age as sixty-four years. he
married Elizabeth, daughter of John Kirby,
in February, 1664. He married (second) in
1673, Mary Wilcox. Children of first wife:
1. David, born 1665. 2. John, 1668. 3.
Elizabeth, 1670. 4. Mary, 1672. Children
of second wife: 5. Jonathan, born 1674.
6. Timothy, 1678. 7. Nathaniel. 8.
Mercy.
(II)
Timothy, fourth son of David Sage and second
child of his second wife,. Mary Wilcox, was
born in Cromwell, Connecticut, 1678, died
there in 1725. The stone marking his grace
is still standing in the old cemetery at
Cromwell. He married, at Cromwell,
Connecticut, Margaret Holibert; children:
1. Samuel, born 1709. 2. Mercy, 1712.
3. Timothy, 1714. 4. Mary, 1716. 5.
David, 1718. 6. Solomon, 1720. 7. Amos,
1722.
(III) Amos,
youngest child of Timothy and Margaret (Holibert)
Sage, was born in Cromwell, Connecticut,
1722, died 1759. He was a farmer, he
married Rebecca Wilcox, of Cromwell.
Children: Amos (2), known as Deacon Amos,
born 1747. 2. William, 1748. Served in the
Battle of Bunker Hill. 3. Hezekiah, born
1750. 4. Nathan, 1752, a privateer of the
Revolution. 5. Rebecca, 1754. 6. Elisha,
1755. 7. Abigail, 1756. 8. Submit, 1759.
(IV) Elisha,
sixth child and fifth son of Amos and
Rebecca (Wilcox) Sage, was born in Cromwell,
Connecticut, August 20, 1755, died there May
31, 1801. He was a soldier in the
Revolution, serving with local troops
(1776). He married, in 1776, Martha
Montague, born at Wethersfield, Connecticut,
November 15, 1754, died in Herkimer, New
York, May 4, 1829, at the home of her
daughter, Mrs. Laurinda S. Garfield, with
whom she resided after the death of her
husband. Children: 1. Rufus, born 1777.
2. Elisha (2), January 25, 1779. 3.
Martha, 1780. 4. Barzilla, 1782. 5.
Fanny, 1784. 6. Mary, 1785. 7. Mary
(2), 1787. 8. Laurinda, 1789. 9. Amos,
1791. 10. Alvin, 1793. 11. Wealthy,
1795. 12. Cyprian, 1797. The family
resided most of their life in Upper
Middletown, Connecticut, originally called
"Upper Houses", now Cromwell, though for a
time they resided at Great Barrington,
Massachusetts.
(V) Elisha
(2), second son of Elisha (1) and Martha
(Montague) Sage, was born January 25, 1779,
and died in Oneida County, New York, 1854.
With this generation the family appear in
New York state. Elisha (2) married Prudence
Risley, probably at Hartford, Connecticut,
before his removal to Oneida County, New
York. Children: 1. Henry R., born 1805.
2. Sally, 1807. 3. Fanny, 1809. 4.
Elisha M., April 13, 1812. 5. Elizur W.,
1812. 6. William C., 1814. 7. Russell,
mentioned below.
(VI)
Russell, fifth son of Elisha (2) and
Prudence (Risley) Sage, was born in the
little settlement of Shenandoah, in Verona
township, Oneida County, New York, August 4,
1816, and died at Lawrence, Long Island,
July 22, 1906. Two years after his birth
his father removed to a farm near
Durhamville,
Page 244A-Picture of
Russell Sage--By Permission of national
Cyclopedia Of American Biography.
Page 245
in the same county, and
there remained until his death in 1854.
There young Russell lived and attended the
district schools in winter and worked upon
the farm the rest of the year until he was
fourteen years of age, when he was sent to
this brother, Henry Risley Sage, who had a
store in Troy, New York. The work was hard,
but he had his earning to himself and
improved himself by diligent study. Before
he was twenty-one he had paid off the
mortgage on his father's farm, was the owner
of several city lots, and of a sloop which
he navigated from Troy to new York. Later
he abandoned his clerkship and entered into
partnership with his brother, whom he was
able to buy out in two years. In 1839 he
sold his store at a profit and entered into
the wholesale grocery and commission
business with John W. Bates, as partner.
The firm ina short time controlled several
branches of the trade, not only in Troy but
in Albany. He became on of the directors of
the Troy & Schenectady railroad, and
afterwards president of the same, and held
office when the railroad was united with the
general system between Albany, Troy, and
Buffalo. At that time in 1853, Mr. Sage was
elected a director of the consolidated
company in the New York Central and served
six years. A little later he became a
large owner in the La Crosse railroad.
In his
earlier years Mr. Sage was deeply interested
in public affairs and took a prominent part
in political matters in the state of New
York. When a resident of Troy in 1845 he
was elected to the board of aldermen. While
holding this office he was also made
treasurer of Rensselaer County, the finances
of which were ina tangled condition. He
speedily straightened them out and held the
office for seven years. In 1848 he was a
delegate to the national convention of the
Whig party. He controlled twenty-eight out
of thirty-two New York delegates, and took a
leading part in the nomination of General
Zachary Taylor for the presidency. It was
at his suggestion that the convention
nominated Millard Fillmore for
vice-president, which selection made him
president, for General Taylor died while in
office and Fillmore succeeded him. In 1850
Mr. Sage was nominated for congress by the
Troy Whigs, but owing to the defection of a
faction of the party he was defeated. He
was again nominated in 1852 and was elected
by a small majority. Two years later, he
was returned to congress by the
unprecedented majority of 7,000 votes.
During his four years in congress the great
talents of Mr. Sage in financial matters
found recognition in his appointment as a
member of the ways and means committee, the
most important committee of the house. He
served also on the invalid pension committee
which ad charge of the pensions incurred by
the Mexican War, and took part in the five
weeks struggle which finally resulted in the
election of Nathaniel Banks as speaker. But
the incident in his professional career
which brought him most reputation was the
appointment of a committee through his
efforts to inquire into the condition of
Washington's old estate at Mount Vernon,
Virginia. The committee's report bore fruit
in the formation of the Mount Vernon
Association, the purchase of the estate, and
its dedication as a permanent memorial to
the father of his country. |
