Henry W. Sage

Henry Williams Sage (January 31, 1814 – September 18, 1897) was a wealthy New York State businessman, philanthropist, and early benefactor and trustee of Cornell University. Early life Sage was born in Middletown, Connecticut on January 31, 1814. He was the son of Charles and Sally (née Williams) Sage. He was distantly related to Congressman Russell Sage, family of Colonel Ira Yale Sage. He spent part of his early childhood in Bristol, Connecticut before moving to Ithaca, New York in 1827. Two uncles, Timothy S. Williams and Josiah B. Williams, were New York State Senators from the Ithaca area. Career After briefly studying medicine at Ithaca under Austin Church, he began work for his uncles' forwarding firm, with a line of barges on the Erie Canal, which he took over by 1837. In 1847, he was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Whig.