Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Savage, Hon Amos 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com October 4, 2007, 8:55 pm

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County 

HON. AMOS SAVAGE. Both through his honorable service in the army during the 
Civil war and through his efficient work as a public official, Mr. Savage is 
entitled to a high place in the esteem of his fellow-citizens. His army career 
covered a period of more than three years, beginning August 5, 1861, when he 
enlisted in Company G, Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry. His first commission 
was that of second lieutenant, which was succeeded, July 20, 1862, by his 
promotion to first lieutenant. He assisted in repelling the raid 
of "Stonewall" Jackson upon the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, where one hundred 
men of his regiment defeated a night attack of the Third Arkansas and the 
Thirty-seventh Virginia regiments, who attempted to destroy a railroad bridge 
on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Shortly afterward, in the battle of 
Winchester, March 23, 1862, he helped to drive the Confederates from the field 
and secure some of their guns and a number of prisoners. With his command he 
was sent to join the Army of the Potomac and aid in the seven days' fight. 
From April to December, 1863, he took part in the siege of Charlestown, during 
which time  he led his company over the parapet of Fort Wagner. In 1864 he 
participated in the campaign against Richmond, with the Army of the James, and 
on the 11th of July of  that year he was given a captain's commission, in 
which office he remained until the close of his service. On account of 
disability he was honorably discharged, October 31, 1864. At that time his 
regiment had been reduced, from the casualties of battle and from disease, 
from seven hundred and fifty to one hundred and fifty men in the short space 
of two months, which fact alone attests to the valor of the men and their 
active participation in the war.

As in war, so also in peace Captain Savage has proved himself a public-
spirited citizen. His interest in civic affairs has continued thoughout his 
entire active life. In politics a believer in the Republican party, he was on 
that ticket elected supervisor of Homer Township when he was twenty-four years 
of age, being the youngest man ever elected a member of the Will County board. 
He served for a few months, resigning when he enlisted in the army. In 1867 he 
was again chosen to be supervisor and accepted the office, filling it five 
years, being chairman during two years of the time. He resigned his position 
on the board in 1872, in order to accept a seat in the state legislature. In 
that body he was known for his championship of measures for the benefit of the 
people. He was a member of the committee that drafted the present railroad law 
of Illinois. In other ways he rendered acceptable service to the people and 
ably represented his constituents, retiring with the good will of all. From 
1876 to 1884 he was a member of the state board of equalization. In November, 
1864, he was appointed township school treasurer, which  office he filled 
continuously for thirty-one and one-half years. His first connection with a 
presidential campaign was in 1860, when he took the stump for Abraham Lincoln, 
and he has been active in every campaign since that time.

For sixty-one years Captain Savage made his home on the farm in Homer Township 
where he was born June 18, 1836. He is one of the oldest native-born citizens 
of this county and has witnessed its growth and the development of its 
resources. When a young man he taught school for six successive winters, but 
with that exception and the public offices he filled, his attention has been 
given to stock-raising and farming. For fifteen years he made a specialty of 
feeding and shipping hogs and cattle, in which work he met With success. 
Having accumulated a competency he determined to retire from active labors, 
and in 1897 removed to the village of Marley, where he now  makes his home. 
Besides his residence here he owns three hundred and seventy acres of farm 
land in Homer Township, the rental of which brings him a good income. He has 
been a prominent member of the Old Settlers' Association of this county and 
served as its president many times. He is active in the E. A.  Gooding Post 
No. 401, G. A. R., in which he has served as chaplain. He was appointed 
president of the Will County Farmers' Institute to succeed the late honored A. 
A. Frances, but declined the office. He is president of the New Lenox County 
Fire Insurance Company.

The Savage family originated in England, but seven generations ago it was 
founded in Connecticut. The first of the family concerning whom there is a 
record was John Savage, of Middletown, Conn., who was married at Hartford to 
Elizabeth Dubin, February 10, 1652. The old Connecticut homestead is still in 
the family. The captain's great-grandfather, Amos Savage, was born and died 
near Middletown, Conn. He served in the French war and the Revolution, and in 
the latter was commissioned an ensign, a position similar to that of 
lieutenant. His son, Amos, was born in Middletown, in 1765, and soon after the 
Revolution migrated to New York, where he became the owner of a large farm and 
also engaged in tanning. For his day he was a well-to-do man. In politics he 
was an old-line Whig. He died in 1839.

Levi Savage, the captain's father, was born in Washington County, N. Y., 
January 28, 1799. At  Granville, January 27, 1822, he married Milenda 
Streator, who was born February 20, 1799. Soon after his marriage he settled 
in Clinton County, N. Y., but three years later returned to Washington County. 
In June, 1833, he brought his family to this county, settling near Joliet, but 
in the spring of 1834 took upland on section 28, Homer Township. There he 
improved a valuable farm. For years he was a deacon in the Congregational 
Church. He was an Abolitionist and a Republican. He died February 14, 1885, at 
the age of eighty-six. His wife passed away October 13, 1893, aged ninety-
four. They had eight children, but only three are now living, viz.: Emily, 
wife of William H. Laufear, of Homer Township; Edward, of Sioux Falls, S. 
Dak.; and Amos, our subject.

During a furlough while in the army Captain Savage married Mary L., daughter 
of Asahel and Catherine (Geddes) Slate, and a native of Georgetown, S. C., but 
at the  time of her marriage a resident of Lemont, Cook County, Ill. Five 
children comprise the family of Captain and Mrs. Savage. The eldest, Helen E., 
is the wife of Frank A. Rowley, of Homer Township. Frank M. resides in Homer 
Township. John H. is an attorney of Chicago. Wilfard holds an office as meat 
inspector for the government at Omaha, Neb. Mary A., the youngest of the 
family, is the wife of Dr. Walter Paddock, of Orland, Ill. The mother of the 
children deserves much credit for the rearing of an intelligent family. She 
has labored self-sacrificingly to have her children a credit to the community 
and an honor to the family name.

The property which Captain Savage owns and the advantages which he has given 
his family indicate the energetic nature of the man, assisted by his wife, and 
to their determination and industry they are due. In his labors as a farmer 
and stock-dealer he displayed good judgment and an ability to work to the best 
advantage. Reared in this county during its pioneer days, when the schools 
were few and their instruction limited, he nevertheless acquired a broad fund 
of practical information, and by self-culture and application has become a 
well-informed man, constantly adding to his early stock of knowledge acquired 
in the primitive schools. No one appreciates more than he the value of a good 
education, hence he gave his children every advantage in his power and also 
helped to promote the interests of the schools of the township. While he is 
now retired from active labors, he still superintends the management of his 
property, and this affords an outlet for his energy  and an opportunity for 
the continued exercise of the judgment that brought his success in the past.


Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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