Union County, Ohio Biographies Project - Morgan Savage
MORGAN SAVAGE
<> Morgan Savage, a farmer, P. O. New Dover, a
prominent pioneer citizen of Dover Township, was born in
Montgomeryshire, North Wales, August 16, 1811. He is a son of
Richard and Susanna (Tomly) Savage, who emigrated to the United States
in 1824, landing in Baltimore April 3. They settled seven miles
north of Baltimore, where they resided till 1832, in which year they
migrated to Delaware County, Ohio, where they both died. When
Morgan was a boy, he served an apprenticeship at the carpenter and
joiner trade in Baltimore. He came to Delaware County with his
parents, where he pursued his trade up to 1849. In April of that
year, he went across the plains to California, and followed mining and
his trade. He made the woodwork on the first brick building in
Sacramento City. December 1850, he returned to Delaware County, and in
1856 came to Dover and purchased Survey No. 5,504, containing 304
acres, for which he paid $16 per acre. He made additions to this
farm till he owned over 700 acres of land in the township. He was
the first person to endorse the petition for the Marysville &
Delaware gravel road. In the way of public improvements, Mr.
Savage has always displayed an interesting part. To the different
pikes, he has given in taxes about $2,800. He was one of the
founders of the Baptist Church, and has been identified with it
officially for many years. Mrs. S. is also a member.
January 1837, Mr. Savage was married to Margaret, daughter of Asa and
Catharine Robinson, by whom he had eleven children: of these three are
living-Anna, wife of John Beard; Hattie R., wife of Calvin Michael; and
Alice, wife of Oscar Beckham. Mrs. Savage's father died May 12,
1866, aged eighty-five. Mrs. Robinson is living in the
ninety-sixth year of her age. Politically, Mr. Savage is of
Democratic views, having advocated those doctrines since the days of
Gen. Jackson. He served as Trustee of Dover Township one term and
one term of Concord Township, Delaware County. Mr. Savage has
witnessed much of the growth and improvement of the county and State,
and in the development of the county he has taken an active interest.
In 1828, he witnessed the laying of the cornerstone of the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad at Baltimore, the first railroad in the United
States. He saw Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, at that time the
only surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. Mr.
Savage saw Lafayette when he came to America on his farewell visit.