HON. HENRY W. SAGE
pp. 1-9

It is extremely difficult within the limits at our disposal in this work to give a just and fair biography of a man who, reaching success by untiring industry and force of character, rounds out his life with benefactions so judiciously chosen, so munificent, and looking to such practical results as those selected by the subject of this sketch. No man in America from youth to age has by his career better illustrated the genius of our institutions, or whose endowments have been on so liberal a scale as not only to attract attention, but to command admiration for their wisdom and far-reaching results.

The early life of Henry W. SAGE was like the life of thousands of American youth who by their efforts have reached competence and distinction, and who by individual personality finally stood in the front rank of those building up and controlling great and successful enterprises. But no one within the author’s line of research can be shown to have contributed so largely of his wealth and thrown into the management of any great educational institution the unselfish and absorbing interest which Mr. Sage has devoted to Cornell University. From the date of Mr. Cornell’s death Mr. Sage has been chairman of the Board of Trustees and has taken no inconsiderable share of the burden of oversight in Cornell University affairs. With President WHITE and later with President ADAMS, and an able and industrious Board of Trustees, he has been faithful and assiduous in building up and completing the purposes of Mr. CORNELL.

From a carefully prepared and exhaustive sketch of Mr. Sage and his benefactions, published in the Troy Times of a recent date, we make copious extracts. The author of the sketch referred to had access to many sources of information not heretofore obtainable by the public, and his statements are entirely authoritative in character:

"Strong character is portrayed in every line of the face which looks out from the pages of the Troy Times as the portrait of Henry W. Sage. And a strong character in every sense of the term is what Hon. Henry W. Sage possesses. He also has a kindly nature and a mind filled with lofty ideas of usefulness to his fellow-men. With such a combination of mental and moral qualities it is not surprising that Mr. Sage has mad a record for practical munificence hardly surpassed in the annals of American benevolence. His works do praise him, and they have been those which enlisted not only his well-disciplined business faculties, but his heart and soul as well, in short, labors of love, the achievements of one in whom abounds the milk of human kindness. In writing of such a man the best tribute that can be paid him is to enumerate the deeds which make his name illustrious. Fulsome praise or high-sounding eulogy would be out of place, as it would be distasteful to the man. But facts speak for themselves and the facts of Henry W. Sage’s career make up a sum of good accomplished that places his name high up on the roll of those who have made the world better for living in it.

"Mr. Sage’s early life was similar in its experiences to that of the large class of self-made, self-reliant men who form such a distinct type of American citizenship. He was born at Middletown, Conn., January 31, 1814, and lived at Bristol, Conn. Until 1821, when his family removed to Ithaca, N.Y. It had been his desire to enter Yale College, and he pursued a course of study with that end in view. But a change of plan was necessitated by the removal to this State, and it may be said to have involved the fortunes of the great educational institution which afterward became to him the object of so much affection and liberality. In Ithaca Mr. Sage also began the study of medicine, but ill health forced him to abandon it, and in 1832 he entered the employ of his uncles, Williams & Brothers, becoming a clerk in their extensive merchandise, produce and transportation establishment. Here he developed the business capacity that has marked his whole life since, and in 1837 he succeeded to his uncles’ business and later enlarged it to far greater proportions. He established a large manufactory on Lake Simcoe, Canada, in 1854, and a few years later with John MCGRAW, built another at Wenona, Mich., at that time the largest in the world. He also purchased timber lands in Michigan and elsewhere until he held altogether over 500,000 acres and ranked as the largest land-owner in the State. All these vast business interests were managed with a vigor and intelligence that assured the greatest success and pushed Mr. Sage forward until he stood in the front rank of the noble guild of the princes of trade.

"Mr. Sage was the steadfast ally and lifelong friend of the late Ezra Cornell, and from the inception of that great philanthropist’s plan for a university at Ithaca, his trusted confidant and sympathetic adviser. At the first commencement of the university the proposition was made by him to Mr. Cornell and President Andrew D. White that ‘Cornell University should provide and forever maintain facilities for the education of women as broadly as for men.’ The way to carry the suggestion into effect was not immediately opened, but a few years later the building and endowment of Sage College amply attested the sincerity and generosity of this noble-hearted friend of education. After the death of Ezra Cornell, Mr. Sage was elected president of the Board of Trustees of the university, which position he has held continuously ever since.

"While Mr. Sage is so conspicuously associated with Ithaca, its business interests and the university of which it is the seat, he has not held an unbroken residence since he located there in boyhood. From 1837 to 1880 he lived in Brooklyn, where he was a member and one of the trustees of Plymouth Church and intimately identified with the social, commercial and religious life of the city. But he never for a moment relinquished his interest in the university that had so large a place in his heart, and when he returned to make his home in Ithaca it was doubtless with the well-defined intention to dedicate his life to the work in which he has since shown such zeal. In truth, he may be considered the guiding spirit of Cornell University and the one man to whom, next to its founder and its first president, Andrew D. White, it owes its present success and usefulness. He has been its bountiful benefactor, its steadfast, generous friend, its ready helper, when wise counsel, judicious business management and contributions of ready money were in demand.

"As is well known, Cornell University was founded in the expectation of receiving the benefits of the land grant voted by Congress in 1862. In 1881 the university was in sore straits, needing a large sum of money which was not forthcoming from any other source within reach. Accordingly the trustees determined to sell the land, consisting practically of about 500,000 acres in Wisconsin. They had an offer of $1,250,000 for the property, but the proposing purchaser could not make the first payment, and the trustees would gladly have accepted $1,000.00. But Mr. Sage strenuously objected, basing his opposition on his personal knowledge of the value of pine lands, and the matter was held in abeyance and referred to him for a special report. He prepared an exhaustive statement showing in detail the exact value of the lands, which he estimated were at that time worth more than $2,600,000 at a fair market price. The thorough manner in which the work was done is demonstrated by the fact that he employed experts to go over the ground, estimating the whole in sections of forty acres, a careful report being made of each section and the amount of stumpage, etc. in the whole vast tract. In this minute, painstaking and systematic manner the precise nature and value of the property were established. Mr. Sage’s report to the trustees June 15, 1881, and the recommendations with which it was accompanied were convincing as to the wisdom of retaining possession of the land. The policy as to the care of the property and the sale of such portions of it as they deemed it advisable to dispose of from time to time suggested by Mr. Sage was adopted by the trustees and has been adhered to ever since. That his conclusions were sound is shown by the present value of the land, which is estimated, with that already sold, to be not less than $6,000,000. Thus the adoption of Mr. Sage’s recommendations saved the university a large sum of money. Since 1881 the care of the university lands has been left mostly in his hands as chairman of the land committee. He had personally attended to the selling, and with the assistance of the treasurer of the university, to drawing up papers, making collections and all the details connected with this great estate, and without expense to the university other than the clerk’s compensation. This in the entire twelve years he has carried on ‘a land office business’ for Cornell and it has not cost that institution a single dollar.

"John McGraw was a warm and personal friend of Mr. Sage for over fifty years, and during a considerable part of that period his partner in extensive lumbering operations in the West. Jennie McGraw, his friend’s daughter, was beloved by Mr. Sage from her earliest childhood. She united with her father in the purpose to give the bulk of the McGraw estate toward the erection and maintenance of a magnificent library for Cornell University. In 1880 Jennie McGraw married Professor D. W. FISKE, a member of the Cornell faculty, and in 1881 she died. After her death came the suit of Fiske, who claimed the whole estate. But the McGraw heirs, claiming that their rights were superior to his, commenced another suit, which resulted in a compromise with Fiske and in the complete success of the contestants, who took over $2,000,000 willed by Jennie McGraw to Cornell university. The Board of Trustees entrusted Mr. Sage and the late Judge BOARDMAN with the sole direction and policy of the suit as representatives of the university’s interests. In September, 1885, Mr. Sage, fearing the decision would be adverse to the university and that he might die before the settlement of the case, added a codicil to his will in which he bound his estate, in the event of the McGraw legacy being set aside, to erect a library building at a cost of $200,000, and also to provide the additional sum of $300,000 as an endowment fund for the maintenance of the library. But the noble benefactor lived to carry out in person this additional scheme of benevolence, and the library building built in 1891, with its endowment, is the enduring testimonial to his munificence. On a tablet near the main entrance of the building is the following inscription: ‘In loving memory of Jennie McGraw Fiske, whose purpose to found a great library for Cornell University has been defeated, this house has been built and endowed by her friend, Henry W. Sage.’ A remarkable exhibition not only of a lofty purpose to do good with his money, but of loyalty to and affection for the memory of those he loved.

"Mr. Sage long had a strong determination to found a college of ethics and philosophy, and it was his purpose to make it the best and most comprehensive in the land. He suggested that Professor (now President) SCHURMAN visit Europe to study the best methods employed in the various countries as applied to these studies. On his return Professor Schurman presented a report embodying the results of his observations and the recommendations based thereon. To carry into effect the plan suggested would necessitate an endowment of $400,000. At that time Mr. Sage, in addition to other large contributions to the university, had assumed the responsibility of building the library, together with its endowment, representing a total of $500,000 and he felt that the condition of his finances would not warrant him in providing the further sum of $400,000 necessary to found and endow the department of ethics and philosophy. However, his heart was in this work, as in everything else connected with the great institution for which he has done so much, and he was determined to bring about the desired result if possible. Presenting Professor Schurman’s report to the trustees, he proposed to give outright the sum of $200,000 toward the necessary endowment if the university would bind itself to maintain the department according to the plan suggested – equivalent to the university giving annually the interest on $200,000 for this purpose.

In a letter addressed to the trustees of Cornell University, dated October 20, 1890 Mr. Sage, referring to his endowment of the Susan E. Linn Sage chair of Christian Ethics and Philosophy, amounting with costs of a house for the permanent use of its occupant to $61,000, offered to endow the Susan E. Linn Sage School of Ethics and Philosophy in the sum of $200,000 provided the university bound itself to forever maintain the department upon the basis proposed, which would practically demand the interest on $400,000. As Mr. Sage expressed it, ‘With these conditions assented to by a proper resolution of this board, and other proper legal obligations, I propose to add to my former endowment $200,000, payable in cash, or approved securities, October 1, 1891, to enlarge the basis of the Susan E. Linn Sage foundation and establish the Susan E. Linn Sage School of Philosophy.’ After presenting an outline of the plan suggested, Mr. Sage added: ‘I will now discuss briefly the question. Should you accept this proposition? Can Cornell University afford the department of ethics and philosophy at the cost of so large an annual draft upon its general fund ($87,500)? Is the purpose to be accomplished by and through it worthy in itself; will it add value and dignity to our processes of education equal to its cost? Heretofore Cornell has done little at her own proper cost to uplift the moral and religious elements of her students.

"’True, we have had this department of ethics several years, we have had the chapel and its preachership eighteen years, but these have been carried with very little expenditure from the funds of the university. We have done much, very much, for the foundations in science, in technical work, in agriculture, the classics and modern languages, in history and economic studies, in ornamentation of our campus and noble buildings for all purposes. But for the top work of man’s structure and development, the crown of his character and achievement through his moral and religious nature little, very little!

"’Our function here is to educate men, and, through education, to provide the foundations of character based on moral principles which shall underlie the whole man and give impulse, tone and color to all the work of his life. We cannot do that without facilities for cultivating and developing every side of his nature. Increase of knowledge, addressed solely to the intellect, does not produce fully rounded men. Quite too often it makes stronger and more dangerous animals, leaving moral qualities dormant and the whole power of cultivated intellect the servant of man’s selfish and animal nature.

"’No education can be complete which does not carry forward with the acquisition of knowledge for its intellectual side and physical wants a broad and thorough cultivation of his moral and religious side. Developing Christian virtues, veneration, benevolence, conscience, a sense of duty to God and man, purity and right living in the largest sense. In short, wise and broad education should and will ally man’s intellect to his moral and religious character more completely than to his animal nature, and from this alliance results all the real dignity there is in mankind, making moral and intellectual qualities regnant, all others subject!

"’I am so fully impressed with the vital importance of this subject and the purpose of the proposed gift that as a trustee of Cornell University (with greater love for its policies and functions than I can express) I think you can afford to accept this gift with its attendant liabilities and that you cannot afford to decline it.

"’It is my free and voluntary offering for a purpose the highest, the noblest and best ever promoted by this noble university.’

"This generous proposition was accepted by the trustees without a dissenting vote.

"The above recital of some of Mr. Sage’s characteristic acts indicates the generosity of his nature. Below appears a list of his chief gifts to the university which has so large a share of his affections:

"Besides these gifts to Cornell University Mr. Sage has presented West Bay City, Mich. With a library which cost $50,000.

"Mr. Sage’s munificent donations, it will be observed by reading this list of benefactions, is in the line of aids to the education of the moral side of men and women. Mr. Sage regards these acts with the utmost satisfaction as effective agencies in carrying out the dearest wish of his heart – the promotion of the moral improvement of mankind.

"All this has been heartwork with Mr. Sage and expressed the predominating tendencies of his nature. It had much of its inspiration no doubt in the sweet companionship and tender memories of his lamented wife, Susan E. Linn Sage. She was of a most lovely Christian character, whose influence for good was felt and recognized by every one who knew her intimately. A lovely and lovable woman, steadfast in friendship, devoted to the right, her life filled with deeds of true charity, she won the unbounded affection and esteem of all privileged to enter the circle of her acquaintance. When some years ago she lost her life in a runaway accident, the calamity brought a shock to all her friends, and a deep sense of personal bereavement that generated for Mr. Sage a sympathy so genuine and profound that all his acquaintances might be said to have shared his great sorrow.

"Mr. Sage in a recent conversation declared there would always be a tender feeling in his heart for the university chapel to which he could not give expression. It was the original design, though this is not generally known, to have a small chapel in one of the wings of Sage College. One evening Mrs. Sage, after looking over the plans for the proposed college, an enterprise close to her heart and thoughts at that time, remarked to her husband, ‘Henry, is that small chapel to be the only place provided for the worship of God for the young men and women of Cornell University?’ This question dwelt in the mind of Mr. Sage after he had retired; and the next morning after breakfast he announced to his wife that he was determined to provide other and better facilities for religious worship. Soon afterward at Ithaca he called upon President White and offered to give $30,000 toward the erection of a university chapel. Within half an hour the site was decided upon and later his son, Dean Sage of Albany, endowed the chapel in the sum of $30,000 to provide for the cost of bringing the best theological talent of all denominations to preach there. ‘Heart history,’ remarked Mr. Sage, ‘can be clearly seen in all that I have ever done for Cornell University,’ and the facts we have enumerated amply substantiate the declaration.

"Two short extracts from the address of Mr. Sage at the laying of the corner-stone of Sage College, May 15, 1873, will make an appropriate conclusion to this sketch of his work for education. They voice the noblest sentiments and are a key to the character of the man who uttered them:

";It has been wisely said that "who educates a woman educates a generation,” and the structure which is to be erected over this corner-stone will be especially devoted to the education of women, and will carry with it a pledge of all the power and resources of Cornell University to "provide for and forever maintain facilities for the education of women as broadly as for men.” This may be truly said to mark a new era in the history of education; for, although the education of women with men has been heretofore practically conducted, notably at Oberlin, Ohio, for many years, and at Ann Arbor, Mich. For three years past, this is the first university in this country, if not in the world, which has at the same time bodily recognized the rights of woman as well as man to all the education she will ask, and pledged itself to the policy and duty of maintaining equal facilities for both. It is, then, no small matter of congratulation that this university, a State institution, endowed by our general government with a princely gift of lands and by Ezra Cornell, its founder, with his own fortune, and more than that, with his own great, earnest heart and zealous love for man, is fairly committed to the education and elevation of woman, and that henceforth the structures now standing here, and those which shall hereafter be added to them, are to be used forever for the education of woman with man, to whom God gave her as a helpmeet, and as the mother and chief educator of his race.

"’Brief reference to some of the ideas and motives which underlie this offering of a university education to the women of America is enough for the hour. When this structure shall be completed and ready for its uses, let us look upward and forward for results. And if woman be true to herself, if man be true to woman, and both be true to God, there ought to be from the work inaugurated here this day an outflow which shall bless and elevate all mankind!’

"The corner-stone was then laid by Mrs. Sage with the following words:

"’I lay this corner-stone, in faith
That structure fair and good
Shall from it rise and thenceforth come
True Christian womanhood’

"And the history of the university, having recently celebrated its ‘silver anniversary,’ proves how well was laid the foundation and how wisely its managers, with Henry W. Sage chief among them, have built the superstructure."