Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#3999
WILLIAM RUTHERFORD SAVAGE PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Represented in the collection are William
Rutherford Savage, Episcopal priest of Virginia and
North Carolina; his parents Thomas Staughton Savage
(1804-1880), scientist and Episcopal missionary to
Liberia, and Elizabeth Rutherford Savage (1817-1899),
also a missionary; his brothers Thomas Rutherford
Savage (1851-1918), physician of Kalamazoo, Mich., and
New York, N.Y., and Alexander Duncan Savage (1848-
1935), curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York City; and his sister Jessie Duncan Savage, an
artist, who in 1884 married Thomas L. Cole, an
Episcopal priest.
The papers relate primarily to the personal life
and professional work of William Rutherford Savage,
beginning in the 1860s and continuing through his
years at Episcopal High School, the University of
Virginia, and the Theological Seminary of Virginia,
and while serving his first parish at Virginia Beach,
Va. In the early 1900s, Savage went to the Blowing
Rock area of North Carolina and worked at missions
there, in Valle Cruces, and in Boone. He remained in
the area until his death in 1934. Among the early
papers are scientific letters, 1840-1860, to Rev. Dr.
Thomas Staughton Savage in Liberia concerning African
species, including a species of gorilla he discovered.
After his return from Africa, Savage was an Episcopal
priest in Pass Christian, Miss., and Rhinecliff, N.Y.
Also documented are the activities of Thomas
Rutherford Savage and his brother, Alexander Duncan
Savage, both graduates of the University of Virginia
in the early 1870s. Thomas then studied medicine in
Baltimore, Md., and New York, N.Y., and was employed
for 18 years at the Michigan State Insane Asylum in
Kalamazoo. He returned to New York City and set up
practice in 1892. Duncan continued his studies in
Europe in the fields of Comparative Philology and
Sanskrit and taught at Johns Hopkins University for a
time. Knowledgeable in art and archeology, he
eventually became assistant director of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Letters of Jesse Duncan
Savage relate to her life in New York City and
Baltimore prior to her marriage in 1884 to Thomas L.
Cole. There is scattered correspondence from the Cole
children, especially Thomas Casilear Cole (1888-1976),
portrait painter. Among other correspondents are
Bishops Alfred Magill Randolph, Junius Moore Horner,
Thomas Campbell Darst, Joseph Blount Cheshire, and
Beverley Dandridge Tucker.
Online Catalog Terms:
Cole family.
Cole, Jessie Duncan Savage.
Cole, Thomas Casilear, b. 1888.
Cole, Thomas L.
Episcopal Church--North Carolina--History.
Episcopal Church--Virginia--History.
Liberia--Description and travel--To 1900.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)--Officials and
employees.
Missionaries--Africa--History--19th century.
North Carolina--Religious life and customs.
Physicians--Michigan--History--19th century.
Physicians--New York (N.Y.)--History--19th century.
Savage, Alexander Duncan, 1848- .
Savage, Elizabeth Rutherford, 1817-1899.
Savage family.
Savage, Thomas Rutherford, 1851-1918.
Savage, Thomas Staughton.
Savage, William Rutherford, 1854-1934.
Size: About 2,050 items (2.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Thomas C. Cole in 1974.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: This collection was processed with support
from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Related Collections: Thomas Casilear Cole Papers at the
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers,
or their descendants, as stipulated by United
States copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Correspondence
Series 2. Pictures
Shelf List
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
Thomas Staughton Savage (1804-1880) + Elizabeth Rutherford
(1817-1899)
Bessie (1847-1860)
Alexander Duncan (1848-1935)
Thomas Rutherford (1851-1918) + Grace ?
Pauline
William Rutherford (1854-1934)
Jessie Duncan (1859-1940) + Thomas L. Cole
Bessie (1887- ) + Fritz G. Cornell
Bobbie
Betty
Thomas Casilear (1888-1976)
Sophie (1889- )
Dorothea + ? Macomber
Leonard
Dr. Thomas Staughton Savage was an Episcopalian minister
stationed at Camp Palmas, Liberia, during the 1830s and 1840s.
He returned to the United States in 1848 residing in Natchez,
Miss., and Sumterville, Ala., before becoming rector of an
Episcopal Church in Pass Christian, Miss., in 1849. He moved to
Rhinecliff, N.Y., in 1867-1880, with his family.
William Rutherford Savage was an Episcopal priest and
missionary like his parents, Thomas Staughton and Elizabeth
Rutherford Savage. He attended Episcopal High School and the
Theological Seminary of Virginia in the 1860s and 1870s.
Savage's first parish was on the Virginia coast where he built,
with Bishop Alfred M. Randolph, the "Chapel by the Sea" at
Virginia Beach. During this time, Savage began his association
with the Life Saving Stations of Cape Henry, Va., and Nags Head,
N.C. He also did missionary work in Tazewell County, Va.,
traveling from parish to parish.
In the early 1900s, Savage went to the Blowing Rock area of
North Carolina under the direction of Junius Horner, Bishop of
Western North Carolina. He worked at missions there, in Valle
Cruces, and in Boone. Savage remained in this area until his
death in 1934, except for a period from 1916 to 1918 when he was
in Bloxom, Va., and Nags Head, N.C. After his retirement in
1922, he continued his missionary work in Glendale Springs, N.C.
Collection Overview
The papers relate primarily to the personal life and clerical
work of William Rutherford Savage. Correspondence is mainly with
family members, lifelong friends, and clergy of the Episcopal
Church. Other papers include newspaper clippings, financial and
genealogical papers, and exhibition information on Thomas
Casilear Cole. Among the early papers are scientific letters,
1840-1860, of William Rutherford Savage's father, Thomas
Staughton Savage, concerning African species, including the
troglodytes gorilla, which he discovered. There are letters
between William Rutherford Savage and his parents, brothers, and
sister, Jessie Duncan Savage Cole, as well as with her children,
especially Thomas C. Cole. There are letters from other family
members and lifelong friends, including clergy of the Episcopal
Church in Virginia, North Carolina, New York, South Dakota, and
elsewhere.
The collection is arranged as follows:
Series 1. Correspondence
Series 2. Pictures
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence and Related Papers
1826-1953. About 1,900 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence of members of the Savage family and related
clippings and other items. Correspondence from the 1830s and
1840s consists of letters to Thomas Staughton Savage while
stationed as an Episcopal missionary at Cape Palmas, Liberia,
from scientists seeking information on, and specimens of, the
flora, fauna, shells, and insects of the west coast of Africa.
Letters from Alexander Duncan Savage and Thomas Rutherford
Savage, 1869-1870, to their parents and siblings discuss student
life at the University of Virginia. There are letters, 1871-
1873, to Thomas Rutherford Savage at medical school in Baltimore
from his brother, Alexander Duncan Savage, in Bonn, Prussia;
other family members in Rhinecliff, N.Y.; and some of Tom's
friends. There is also business correspondence during this
period concerning the publication of a manuscript of Thomas
Staughton Savage. More business correspondence appears between
1881 and 1900, when Thomas Rutherford Savage took over the
management of the family's Pass Christian, Miss., property.
There are letters to other family members from Thomas Rutherford
Savage concerning this property in March and April of 1885.
Correspondence, 1879-1880, relates to an inheritance dispute
concerning Thomas Staugton Savage's brother, Silas. During this
period, letters show that Thomas Rutherford Savage was working at
the Michigan State Insane Asylum in Kalamazoo; Alexander Duncan
Savage was teaching at Johns Hopkins University; Jessie Duncan
Savage was in art school in New York City; and their parents were
in Rhinecliff, N.Y.
In 1880, Alexander Duncan Savage was employed under General di
Cesnola in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and became involved in
the trial of di Cesnola, who was accused of having forgeries
among his collection of Greek statues and pottery. Also in that
year, Jessie Duncan Savage was employed by John LaFarge, artist
and operator of a stained glass studio in New York City. When
Thomas Staughton Savage died in 1880, Elizabeth Rutherford Savage
moved in with Jessie and remained with her after Jessie's
marriage to Thomas L. Cole, a clergyman, in 1883. The family
moved to Portland, Ore., in 1889. Elizabeth later moved in with
William Rutherford Savage in Virginia, then moved back to
Portland in 1895 before moving in with Thomas Rutherford Savage,
who was practicing medicine in New York City.
Correspondence, chiefly between William Rutherford Savage and
his mother, Elizabeth Rutherford Savage, and brother Alexander
Duncan Savage, about William's education at Episcopal High
School, various jobs, and attendance at the Theological Seminary
in Alexandria, Va., appears in the 1860s and 1870s. Beginning in
the 1880s and continuing though the 1920s, correspondence of
William Rutherford Savage concerns his missionary work. Included
are many letters from clergymen, such as Bishops Alfred Magill
Randolph, Junius M. Horner, Thomas Campbell Darst, Joseph Blount
Cheshire, and Beverley Dandridge Tucker. Correspondence about
William's work with the U.S. Life-Saving Service on the North
Carolina and Virginia coasts begins in the 1880s and continues
through the 1910s. Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy,
corresponded with Savage in 1918 about Navy chaplains. From 1924
until his death, William Rutherford Savage maintained a close
connection to Mission House in Glendale Springs, N.C., an
interdenominational educational community with a library,
machine shop, and spinning and weaving facilities.
In the 1900s, William began a close correspondence with his
nephew, Thomas Casilear Cole, who attended Riverview Military
Academy in Massachusetts and the School of the Museum of Fine
Arts in Boston. Thomas Casilear Cole began to make a name for
himself as a portrait painter in the 1910s and designed
camouflage patterns for the Navy in 1918. Their correspondence
continued until William's death in 1934. Included in the papers
are several program pamphlets from Cole's painting exhibitions.
Some of these pamphlets are filed along with genealogical
material, poems, financial papers, and clippings at the end of
this series.
Folder 1 1826-1841
2 1842
3 1843
4 1844
5 1845-1846
6 1847
1848
7 January-April
8 May-December
9 1849 and undated 1840s
10 1850-1859
11 1860-1867
12 1869
1870
13 January-April
14 May-December
1871
15 January-September
16 October-December
17 1872
18 1873
19 1874
1875
20 January-June
21 July-December
1876
22 January-June
23 July-December
24 1877
25 1878
1879
26 January-February
27 March-October
28 November-December
29 Undated 1870s
1880
30 January-February
31 March-May
32 June-October
33 November-December
34 1881
35 1882
1883
36 January-June
37 July-December
1884
38 January-April
39 May-December
1885
40 January-April
41 May-December
42 1886
43 1887
1888
44 January-April
45 May-December
1889
46 January-July
47 August-December
48 Undated 1880s
1890
49 January-June
50 July-December
1891
51 January-May
52 June-December
53 1892
54 1893
55 1894
56 1895
57 1896
58 1897
59 1898
1899
60 January-July
61 September-December
62 1900
63 1901
64 1902
65 1903
66 1904
67 1905
68 1906-1907
69 1908
70 1909
71 Undated 1890-1909
72 1910
1911
73 January-July
74 August-December
75 1912
1913
76 January-March
77 April-December
78 1914
79 1915
80 1916
81 1917
1918
82 January-May
83 June-December
1919
84 January-April
85 May-December
86 1920
87 1921
1922
88 January-May
89 June-December
90 1923
91 1924
92 1925
93 1926
94 1927
95 1928
1929
96 January-April
97 May-December
1930
98 January-May
99 June-December
100 1931
101 1932
1933
102 January-July
103 August-December
1934
104 January-July
105 August
106 September-December
107 1935-1953
108 Undated
109 Fragments
110-112 Miscellaneous
113 Clippings
Series 2. Pictures
1825-1960s. 107 items.
Photographs of members of the Savage family; snapshots of
William Rutherford Savage and friends around Blowing Rock, N.C.;
and postcards of Nags Head, Manteo, and Roanoke Island, N.C.
P-3999/1 Cabinet card of a miniature of William
Rutherford, Esq., ca. 1825.
P-3999/2 Photograph of Elizabeth Rutherford Savage, ca.
1890.
P-3999/3 Cabinet card of Thomas Rutherford Savage,
1899.
P-3999/4 Cabinet card of William Rutherford Savage,
1904.
P-3999/5 Carte-de-visite of Alexander Duncan Savage,
ca. 1872.
P-3999/6 Carte-de-visite of the George Upfold, Bishop
of Indiana, 1872.
P-3999/7 Carte-de-visite of William Bacon Stevens,
Bishop of Pennsylvania, undated.
P-3999/8 Carte-de-visite of Bishop Smith(?), undated.
P-3999/9 Tintype of an unidentified young boy, undated.
P-3999/10-11 Photographs of Thomas C. Cole and a painting
(self-portrait?) of him, 1920s.
P-3999/12 Cabinet card of an unidentified clergyman.
P-3999/13-21 Snapshots of William Rutherford Savage, 1910-
1932.
P-3999/22-32 Snapshots of William Rutherford Savage and
others at Glenvale Springs, N.C., in October,
1926, 1928, 1932, and undated.
P-3999/33 Cabinet card of "Armedale"(?) in Madison
County, Miss., where Thomas Staughton Savage's
"family united for a long stay during the
War," undated.
P-3999/34-35 Stereoscope views of rectory and church in
Rhinecliff, N.Y., Thomas Staughton Savage's
parish from 1867 to 1880, September 1877.
P-3999/36-42 Photographs of other family homes and
churches, 1850s-1932, and one postcard, 1960s,
of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Pass
Christian, Miss., where Thomas Staughton
Savage was first rector in 1849.
P-3999/43-45 Photographs from Blowing Rock, N.C., and of
the New River in Ashe County, N.C., undated
P-3999/Folder 3 Thirty postcards of Nags Head, Manteo, and
Roanoke Island, N.C., 1910s.
P-3999/Folder 4 Thirty-one postcards of Nags Head, Manteo, and
Roanoke Island, N.C., 1910s.
SHELF LIST
Box 1 Series 1. Correspondence and
Related Items (folders 1-21)
Box 2 Series 1. Correspondence and
Related Items (folders 22-48)
Box 3 Series 1. Correspondence and
Related Items (folders 49-71)
Box 4 Series 1. Correspondence and
Related Items (folders 72-93)
Box 5 Series 1. Correspondence and
Related Items (folders 94-103)
Items separated:
OP-3999/1-2
P-3999/1-107