Richard Henry Savage
Encyclopedia
Richard Henry Savage was an American military officer and author who wrote more than 40 books of adventure and mystery stories. Savage's eloquent, witty, dashing and daring life may have been the inspiration for the pulp novel character Doc Savage
.
In his youth in San Francisco, Savage studied engineering and law, and graduated from the United States Military Academy
for a career in the U.S. Army
. After a few years of surveying
work with the Army Corps of Engineers, Savage resigned to seek a more exciting challenge: President Ulysses S. Grant
sent him to Rome
as an envoy following which he sailed to Egypt to serve a stint with the Egyptian Army
. Upon returning, Grant assigned Savage to assess border disputes between the U.S. and Mexico, and Savage took the opportunity to assist in railroad survey work in Texas
. In Washington D.C., he courted and married a widowed noblewoman from Germany.
Savage returned to San Francisco with his wife to stay for ten years, raising a daughter and taking part in a family business. He served at the rank of colonel in the California National Guard
, and took part in the social activity of the city. During a period of anti-Chinese race riots, Savage stood up for law and order, and thereby gained the respect of San Francisco's leaders, property holders and middle class residents.
Alternating careers between law and foreign survey work, Savage traveled to many exotic lands. In 1890, he was struck with jungle fever in Honduras, and while recuperating in New York state, wrote his first book: My Official Wife. This very successful action-and-adventure story was followed by more, at the rate of about three per year, written for the general public rather than for literary critics; the latter were charmed by the first book but scathing of many later ones. Savage lived primarily in New York City
, and was involved in lawsuits, especially against his New York publisher regarding unpaid royalties.
When the Spanish–American War broke out, Savage volunteered to lead men in battle. Instead, he was given command of an engineering unit which then built a complete base in Havana
. Returning to New York, he wrote more books and corresponded with his wife who traveled often to the Russian Empire
to visit their daughter and her Russian husband. Four years after mustering out of the Army, Savage was knocked down and mortally wounded at the age of 57 by a horse and carriage on the streets of New York.
, the son of Jane Moorhead Ewart and Richard Savage (1817–1903), a lawyer and manufacturer whose family had lived in the Utica area for years. With the discovery of gold in California
, Savage's father came West in 1850. Savage joined with his family in 1851, and was among the first boys to attend public school in San Francisco, along with future poet Charles Warren Stoddard
and the brothers Gus, Charles and Harry de Young
who would found the San Francisco Chronicle
. While the younger Savage was in school, his father helped discover the rich silver deposits of the Comstock Lode
.
Savage finished high school at age 15 and began to study law with U.S. Senator James A. McDougall
. Later, he studied with the law firm Halleck, Peachy & Billings
, while partner Henry Halleck was back East serving as major general in the Union Army. The Civil War
found Savage immediately joining the Union Army but his father had him discharged for extreme youth. Savage's father pushed to keep California on the Union side, and was rewarded by President Lincoln
with the post of Collector of Internal Revenue 1861–1873. Through his influence, Savage's father gained for Savage an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point
in 1864, and Savage traveled across the Isthmus of Panama
with significant wartime delays preventing him from joining the June 'plebes' but allowing him a place with the September students. In 1868, Savage graduated sixth in his class of 55 at West Point, and was assigned as brevet second lieutenant with the Army Corps of Engineers at Yerba Buena Island
in San Francisco Bay
. Savage took part in survey work on the Indian reservation
s of Round Valley
in Northern California
and the Pima and Maricopa reservations
in Arizona
.
, he went to Marseilles and Rome
as an American vice-consul. Beginning in 1871, Savage traveled to Egypt
to act for one year as secretary at the rank of captain to Charles Pomeroy Stone
, a former American general in the Egyptian Army
, serving under Khedive
Isma'il Pasha
. Following an honorable discharge from the Egyptian Army, Savage returned to the U.S. and was tasked by Grant to serve as one of three commissioners investigating a series of border incidents between the U.S. and Mexico
1872–74. At the same time, he worked with Richard King
and the nascent Corpus Christi & Rio Grande Railroad
as the chief engineer surveying the route to Laredo
.
At the German Embassy in Washington, D.C.
, on January 2, 1873, Savage married the aristocratic Anna Josephine Scheible, a German widow three years older than he who had arrived in war-torn America in 1864 with her first husband, Gustav, to look after family-owned land in Georgia
. Gustav Scheible died in 1866 and Anna became a favorite of the Washington social circle. Her marriage to Savage produced one daughter, who later married Anatol de Carriere, a minor nobleman and an Imperial Russian
Councilor of State.
In 1874, Savage began a ten-year stay in San Francisco. He worked with his father and brother on an iron foundry enterprise, and served two years as colonel of the 2nd Regiment California National Guard
. Savage took a prominent role in the civic and social life of the city, and was often called upon to make extemporaneous speeches to large crowds, a skill on which Henry George
complimented him. In January 1878, Savage served as chief military executive officer of the Committee of Safety, a group set up to oppose Denis Kearney and his riotous mob of angry supporters who wanted to get rid of Chinese immigrants. Savage's calm and logical presence was seen by San Franciscans as a rallying point for law and order during the riots. Savage renewed the friendship of his childhood schoolmate, now Bohemian Club
poet Charles Warren Stoddard
. He made the acquaintance of writer Archibald Clavering Gunter
, who would later publish some of Savage's stories.
While in San Francisco, Anna Savage began a devoted interest in the fight for women's suffrage
. Savage retired from government service in 1884 to practice law with his youngest brother. In 1890, he moved to New York City.
In late 1890 at a friend's house on Lake George
in upstate New York, while recovering from a near-fatal case of jungle fever contracted in Honduras
, Savage wrote a tale loosely based on his life, entitled My Official Wife. The book was a great success, and was translated into many languages. The Times
in London called it "a wonderful and clever tour de force, in which improbabilities and impossibilities disappear, under an air that is irresistible."
Savage followed his first book with Delilah of Harlem, The Mask of Venus, Our Mysterious Passenger and Other Stories and In the Shadow of the Pyramids. In addition to his fiction prose output, Savage published collections of his speeches and essays, and in 1895 wrote a book of poetry dedicated to his wife: After Many Years. Savage's writing style was fast and precise: he wrote from morning to night and rarely needed to correct his first drafts. He was able to carry on a conversation while writing. He joined the Author's Guild of America in 1894.
:
sued Savage for $10,000 in damages, for stealing away the affections of his wife. Savage's own wife and a friend defended him in court, saying Lewis, an informal supplier of food to soldiers under Savage's command, was retaliating for being stopped from the lucrative but illegal act of selling liquor to the troops at Montauk Point
.
On January 3, 1898, Savage and his wife celebrated their 25th anniversary, in New York City. On February 16, Savage volunteered for Army duty during the Spanish–American War. Savage would have served as lieutenant colonel of the 1st Tammany Regiment, but New York's Governor Frank S. Black
declined the formation. Savage was instead assigned senior major of the 2nd U.S. Volunteer Engineers at the end of May. After stateside training and the building of a complete Army camp at Montauk Point, his unit traveled in November to Havana
, Cuba
and cleared Marianao
to build Camp Columbia for the Army of Occupation. Savage hoisted the first American flag in Havana Province on December 10. He was in command of the battalion at the surrender of Havana on January 1, 1899. Weakened with yellow fever, Savage was mustered out of the Volunteer Engineers in April, 1899, and assigned captain with the 27th Volunteer Infantry. Continuing illness prevented him from traveling with his unit to the Philippines
, and he was honorably discharged.
In August 1903, Savage's wife and daughter were in Kishinev
, Russia, where Savage's son-in-law Anatol de Carriere was serving the Russian government. Savage's wife sent word through Breslau to London
that 27 of the Kishinev pogrom
rioters had been given prison sentences. The de Carrieres hid some 40 Jews in their house during the rioting. Anna Savage warned that if further bloody riots were encouraged by the Tsar's government, "the wealthy Russian aristocracy will be in danger of their lives."
after being knocked down and injured in the ribcage on a New York City street by a horse and wagon on October 3. Savage's wife and daughter were still in Europe at the time of his death.
Anna Josephine Savage died at the age of 67 on July 7, 1910 after a long illness in New York City, with her daughter at her side. For 30 years, she had been a noted supporter of women's right to vote.
Author Marilyn Cannaday has suggested that Doc Savage
, the pulp hero from the 1930s and 1940s, was based in part on Savage's life, or at least his name. Though he never met Savage, Henry Ralston, one of men who created the pulp character, joined Street and Smith publishers one year after a collection of Savage's short stories were published.
Doc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
.
In his youth in San Francisco, Savage studied engineering and law, and graduated from the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
for a career in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. After a few years of surveying
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
work with the Army Corps of Engineers, Savage resigned to seek a more exciting challenge: President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
sent him to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
as an envoy following which he sailed to Egypt to serve a stint with the Egyptian Army
Egyptian Army
The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces and holds power in the current Egyptian government. It is estimated to number around 379,000, in addition to 479,000 reservists for a total of 858,000 strong. The modern army was created in the 1820s, and during the...
. Upon returning, Grant assigned Savage to assess border disputes between the U.S. and Mexico, and Savage took the opportunity to assist in railroad survey work in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. In Washington D.C., he courted and married a widowed noblewoman from Germany.
Savage returned to San Francisco with his wife to stay for ten years, raising a daughter and taking part in a family business. He served at the rank of colonel in the California National Guard
California National Guard
The California National Guard is the component of the United States National Guard in the U.S. state of California. It comprises both Army and Air National Guard components and is the largest national guard force in the United States with a total authorized strength of 22,900 soldiers and airmen...
, and took part in the social activity of the city. During a period of anti-Chinese race riots, Savage stood up for law and order, and thereby gained the respect of San Francisco's leaders, property holders and middle class residents.
Alternating careers between law and foreign survey work, Savage traveled to many exotic lands. In 1890, he was struck with jungle fever in Honduras, and while recuperating in New York state, wrote his first book: My Official Wife. This very successful action-and-adventure story was followed by more, at the rate of about three per year, written for the general public rather than for literary critics; the latter were charmed by the first book but scathing of many later ones. Savage lived primarily in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and was involved in lawsuits, especially against his New York publisher regarding unpaid royalties.
When the Spanish–American War broke out, Savage volunteered to lead men in battle. Instead, he was given command of an engineering unit which then built a complete base in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
. Returning to New York, he wrote more books and corresponded with his wife who traveled often to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
to visit their daughter and her Russian husband. Four years after mustering out of the Army, Savage was knocked down and mortally wounded at the age of 57 by a horse and carriage on the streets of New York.
Early life and career
Savage was born in Utica, New YorkUtica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
, the son of Jane Moorhead Ewart and Richard Savage (1817–1903), a lawyer and manufacturer whose family had lived in the Utica area for years. With the discovery of gold in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Savage's father came West in 1850. Savage joined with his family in 1851, and was among the first boys to attend public school in San Francisco, along with future poet Charles Warren Stoddard
Charles Warren Stoddard
Charles Warren Stoddard was an American author and editor.-Life and works:Charles Warren Stoddard was born in Rochester, New York on August 7, 1843. He was descended in a direct line from Anthony Stoddard of England, who settled at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1639...
and the brothers Gus, Charles and Harry de Young
M. H. de Young
Michael Henry de Young was an American journalist and businessman.-Life and career:De Young was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Amelia and Miechel de Young , who was a jeweler and dry-goods merchant. The family was Jewish, of Dutch Jewish descent...
who would found the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. While the younger Savage was in school, his father helped discover the rich silver deposits of the Comstock Lode
Comstock Lode
The Comstock Lode was the first major U.S. discovery of silver ore, located under what is now Virginia City, Nevada, on the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range. After the discovery was made public in 1859, prospectors rushed to the area and scrambled to stake their claims...
.
Savage finished high school at age 15 and began to study law with U.S. Senator James A. McDougall
James A. McDougall
James Alexander McDougall was an American attorney and politician elected to statewide office in two U.S. states, then to the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate...
. Later, he studied with the law firm Halleck, Peachy & Billings
Halleck, Peachy & Billings
Halleck, Peachy & Billings was one of the leading early law firms in San Francisco, California and specialized in land cases. The firm was organized by Frederick H. Billings and Archibald Carey Peachy in 1849, who were joined soon after by Henry Wager Halleck. Halleck, Peachy & Billings was...
, while partner Henry Halleck was back East serving as major general in the Union Army. The Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
found Savage immediately joining the Union Army but his father had him discharged for extreme youth. Savage's father pushed to keep California on the Union side, and was rewarded by President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
with the post of Collector of Internal Revenue 1861–1873. Through his influence, Savage's father gained for Savage an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
in 1864, and Savage traveled across the Isthmus of Panama
Isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal...
with significant wartime delays preventing him from joining the June 'plebes' but allowing him a place with the September students. In 1868, Savage graduated sixth in his class of 55 at West Point, and was assigned as brevet second lieutenant with the Army Corps of Engineers at Yerba Buena Island
Yerba Buena Island
Yerba Buena Island sits in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland, California. The Yerba Buena Tunnel runs through its center and connects the western and eastern spans of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. It has had several other names over the decades: Sea Bird Island, Wood...
in San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. Savage took part in survey work on the Indian reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
s of Round Valley
Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation
The Round Valley Indian Reservation is a federally recognized Indian reservation lying primarily in northern Mendocino County, California, USA. A small part of it extends northward into southern Trinity County. The total land area, including off-reservation trust land, is 93.939 km²...
in Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
and the Pima and Maricopa reservations
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
The Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community comprises two distinct Native American tribes—the Pima and the Maricopa —many of whom were originally of the Halchidhoma tribe. The community was officially created by an Executive Order of US President Rutherford B. Hayes on June 14, 1879...
in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
Government and writing career
Savage served ably at his Army tasks but was unhappy with the narrowly defined role. He tendered his resignation on December 31, 1870. Through President GrantUlysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
, he went to Marseilles and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
as an American vice-consul. Beginning in 1871, Savage traveled to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
to act for one year as secretary at the rank of captain to Charles Pomeroy Stone
Charles Pomeroy Stone
Charles Pomeroy Stone was a career United States Army officer, civil engineer, and surveyor. He fought with distinction in the Mexican–American War, earning two brevet promotions for his performance in the conflict. After resigning and surveying for the Mexican Government, he returned to the U.S...
, a former American general in the Egyptian Army
Egyptian Army
The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces and holds power in the current Egyptian government. It is estimated to number around 379,000, in addition to 479,000 reservists for a total of 858,000 strong. The modern army was created in the 1820s, and during the...
, serving under Khedive
Khedive
The term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire...
Isma'il Pasha
Isma'il Pasha
Isma'il Pasha , known as Ismail the Magnificent , was the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of the United Kingdom...
. Following an honorable discharge from the Egyptian Army, Savage returned to the U.S. and was tasked by Grant to serve as one of three commissioners investigating a series of border incidents between the U.S. and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
1872–74. At the same time, he worked with Richard King
Richard King (Texas)
Richard King was a riverboat captain, entrepreneur, and most notably, the founder of the King Ranch in South Texas, which at the time of his death in 1885 encompassed over 600,000 acres .-Early years:Born in New York City into a poor Irish family, King was indentured as an apprentice to a jeweler...
and the nascent Corpus Christi & Rio Grande Railroad
Texas Mexican Railway
The Texas Mexican Railway is a class 1 railroad that operates as a subsidiary of Kansas City Southern Railway in Texas. It is often referred to as the Tex-Mex, or TexMex Railway....
as the chief engineer surveying the route to Laredo
Laredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
.
At the German Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, on January 2, 1873, Savage married the aristocratic Anna Josephine Scheible, a German widow three years older than he who had arrived in war-torn America in 1864 with her first husband, Gustav, to look after family-owned land in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. Gustav Scheible died in 1866 and Anna became a favorite of the Washington social circle. Her marriage to Savage produced one daughter, who later married Anatol de Carriere, a minor nobleman and an Imperial Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
Councilor of State.
In 1874, Savage began a ten-year stay in San Francisco. He worked with his father and brother on an iron foundry enterprise, and served two years as colonel of the 2nd Regiment California National Guard
California National Guard
The California National Guard is the component of the United States National Guard in the U.S. state of California. It comprises both Army and Air National Guard components and is the largest national guard force in the United States with a total authorized strength of 22,900 soldiers and airmen...
. Savage took a prominent role in the civic and social life of the city, and was often called upon to make extemporaneous speeches to large crowds, a skill on which Henry George
Henry George
Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...
complimented him. In January 1878, Savage served as chief military executive officer of the Committee of Safety, a group set up to oppose Denis Kearney and his riotous mob of angry supporters who wanted to get rid of Chinese immigrants. Savage's calm and logical presence was seen by San Franciscans as a rallying point for law and order during the riots. Savage renewed the friendship of his childhood schoolmate, now Bohemian Club
Bohemian Club
The Bohemian Club is a private men's club in San Francisco, California, United States.Its clubhouse is located at 624 Taylor Street in San Francisco...
poet Charles Warren Stoddard
Charles Warren Stoddard
Charles Warren Stoddard was an American author and editor.-Life and works:Charles Warren Stoddard was born in Rochester, New York on August 7, 1843. He was descended in a direct line from Anthony Stoddard of England, who settled at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1639...
. He made the acquaintance of writer Archibald Clavering Gunter
Archibald Clavering Gunter
Archibald Clavering Gunter is primarily known today for authoring the novel that the film A Florida Enchantment was based upon, and for his hand in popularizing "Casey at the Bat". He clipped the original publication of the poem from the San Francisco Examiner and passed it on to DeWolf Hopper,...
, who would later publish some of Savage's stories.
While in San Francisco, Anna Savage began a devoted interest in the fight for women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
. Savage retired from government service in 1884 to practice law with his youngest brother. In 1890, he moved to New York City.
In late 1890 at a friend's house on Lake George
Lake George (New York)
Lake George, nicknamed the Queen of American Lakes, is a long, narrow oligotrophic lake draining northwards into Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River Drainage basin located at the southeast base of the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York, U.S.A.. It lies within the upper region of the...
in upstate New York, while recovering from a near-fatal case of jungle fever contracted in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Savage wrote a tale loosely based on his life, entitled My Official Wife. The book was a great success, and was translated into many languages. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
in London called it "a wonderful and clever tour de force, in which improbabilities and impossibilities disappear, under an air that is irresistible."
Savage followed his first book with Delilah of Harlem, The Mask of Venus, Our Mysterious Passenger and Other Stories and In the Shadow of the Pyramids. In addition to his fiction prose output, Savage published collections of his speeches and essays, and in 1895 wrote a book of poetry dedicated to his wife: After Many Years. Savage's writing style was fast and precise: he wrote from morning to night and rarely needed to correct his first drafts. He was able to carry on a conversation while writing. He joined the Author's Guild of America in 1894.
Critical review
In 1893, Savage's book The Masked Venus was scathingly reviewed in the Overland MonthlyOverland Monthly
Overland Monthly was a monthly magazine based in California, United States, and published in the 19th and 20th century.The magazine's first issue was in July 1868, and continued until the late 1875. The original publishers, in 1880, started The Californian, which became The Californian and Overland...
:
New York life
In New York, Savage spent some time in legal battles. From his apartment at The Gerard, 123 West 44th Street in Manhattan in 1896, he sued his publisher for $12,000 in unpaid royalties. The publisher, Frank Tennyson Neely, who had filed for bankruptcy five years earlier before accepting Savage as a client, argued that he didn't owe Savage anything, instead, Savage owed him. Neely's scattered and incomplete accounting books prevented an easy conclusion to the trial. Three years later, Neely once again declared bankruptcy. In 1899, Abraham Lewis of BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
sued Savage for $10,000 in damages, for stealing away the affections of his wife. Savage's own wife and a friend defended him in court, saying Lewis, an informal supplier of food to soldiers under Savage's command, was retaliating for being stopped from the lucrative but illegal act of selling liquor to the troops at Montauk Point
Montauk Point State Park
Montauk Point State Park is located in the hamlet of Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island in the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York. Montauk Point is the easternmost extremity of the South Fork of Long Island, and thus also of New York State...
.
On January 3, 1898, Savage and his wife celebrated their 25th anniversary, in New York City. On February 16, Savage volunteered for Army duty during the Spanish–American War. Savage would have served as lieutenant colonel of the 1st Tammany Regiment, but New York's Governor Frank S. Black
Frank S. Black
Frank Swett Black was an American newspaper editor, lawyer and politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1895 to 1897, and the 32nd Governor of New York from 1897 to 1898.-Life:He was one of eleven children of Jacob Black, a farmer, and Charlotte B. Black...
declined the formation. Savage was instead assigned senior major of the 2nd U.S. Volunteer Engineers at the end of May. After stateside training and the building of a complete Army camp at Montauk Point, his unit traveled in November to Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and cleared Marianao
Marianao
Marianao is a town and municipality in the province of the city of Havana, Cuba, 6 miles southwest of the original city of Havana, with which it is connected by the Marianao railway. , the municipality had a population of 133,016. Marianao is on a range of hills about 1500 ft. above sea level,...
to build Camp Columbia for the Army of Occupation. Savage hoisted the first American flag in Havana Province on December 10. He was in command of the battalion at the surrender of Havana on January 1, 1899. Weakened with yellow fever, Savage was mustered out of the Volunteer Engineers in April, 1899, and assigned captain with the 27th Volunteer Infantry. Continuing illness prevented him from traveling with his unit to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, and he was honorably discharged.
In August 1903, Savage's wife and daughter were in Kishinev
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
, Russia, where Savage's son-in-law Anatol de Carriere was serving the Russian government. Savage's wife sent word through Breslau to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
that 27 of the Kishinev pogrom
Kishinev pogrom
The Kishinev pogrom was an anti-Jewish riot that took place in Chişinău, then the capital of the Bessarabia province of the Russian Empire on April 6-7, 1903.-First pogrom:...
rioters had been given prison sentences. The de Carrieres hid some 40 Jews in their house during the rioting. Anna Savage warned that if further bloody riots were encouraged by the Tsar's government, "the wealthy Russian aristocracy will be in danger of their lives."
Death and legacy
Savage died on October 11, 1903, at Roosevelt HospitalSt. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, an academic affiliate of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, is a 1,076-bed, full-service community and tertiary care hospital serving New York City’s Midtown West, Upper West Side and parts of Harlem....
after being knocked down and injured in the ribcage on a New York City street by a horse and wagon on October 3. Savage's wife and daughter were still in Europe at the time of his death.
Anna Josephine Savage died at the age of 67 on July 7, 1910 after a long illness in New York City, with her daughter at her side. For 30 years, she had been a noted supporter of women's right to vote.
Author Marilyn Cannaday has suggested that Doc Savage
Doc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
, the pulp hero from the 1930s and 1940s, was based in part on Savage's life, or at least his name. Though he never met Savage, Henry Ralston, one of men who created the pulp character, joined Street and Smith publishers one year after a collection of Savage's short stories were published.
Selected works
- (1891) My Official Wife, at Google Books
- (1891) My Official Wife, at Internet Archive
- (1892) The Little Lady of Lagunitas: A Franco-Californian Romance, at Project Gutenberg
- (1892) The Little Lady of Lagunitas: A Franco-Californian Romance, at Internet Archive
- (1892) Prince Schamyl's Wooing: A Story of the Caucasus-Russo-Turkish War (1892), at Internet Archive
- (1893) Of Life and Love: A Story of the Rio Grande, at Internet Archive
- (1893) Delilah of Harlem: A Story of the New York City of To-Day, at Internet Archive
- (1894) The Anarchist: A Story of To-Day, at Internet Archive
- (1894) The Princess of Alaska: A Tale of Two Countries, at Internet Archive
- (1895) Miss Devereux of the Mariquita: A Story of Bonanza Days in Nevada, at Internet Archive
- (1895) His Cuban Sweetheart, at Internet Archive
- (1895) After Many Years, at Internet Archive
- (1896) An Exile from London: A Novel, at Google Books
- (1896) Lost Contessa Falka: A Story of the Orient, at Internet Archive
- (1896) Checked Through, Missing, Trunk No. 17580: A Story on New York City Life, at Internet Archive
- (1897) An Awkward Meeting, Fighting the Tiger and other Thrilling Adventures, at Internet Archive
- (1897) A Fascinating Traitor, at Project Gutenberg
- (1897) Captain Landon: A Story of Modern Rome, at Google Books
- (1898) In The Swim: A Story of Currents and Under-Currents in Gayest New York, at Google Books
- (1899) His Cuban Sweetheart, at Google Books
- (1900) The Midnight Passenger, at Project Gutenberg
- (1902) The Mystery of a Shipyard, at Google Books
- (1904) The Last Traitor of Long Island: A Story of the Sea, at Google Books
- (1904) The Last Traitor of Long Island: A Story of the Sea, at Internet Archive