My great grandfather Samuel Selah Sage 1863-1947
And yes, before you say anything I know that no one gives a shite about any of this. It's just what I do... that is bothering people with useless people, places, and things from a long time ago...
Let's face it too. Family history can get pretty boring - and that's when it's not too complicated or acting like some math equation nobody will ever solve. Still, we keep at it and sort it out the best we can. We don't want to show up in the Great Beyond and not know the names of our ancestors. Indeed, how embarrassing would it be having your great-grandfather introduce you around the place, like say to his brothers and sisters and you not having a clue who any of them were in relation to you? Egads. How cosmologically gauche not to know the names of your own relatives?
However, sorting everyone out among the celestial Who's Who crowd can be tough to do sometimes. And then, proving who is related to who - well, let's just say that sometimes we may have to get to that Great Beyond before we ever have all the answers.
I noticed this not too long ago when I was trying to gather proofs to submit to the New England Historic Genealogical Society to prove my mom's "Gateway Ancestor." Mom's gateway comes through her mother's Sage family ancestry. Now "Gateways" are tough to come by as they link her folks from the Great Migration to European Royalty. Usually, it's some off-the-wall illegitimate line and hard as hell to prove out - but you have to have a "Gateway" to begin trying to prove anything at all - and you have to be able to prove yourself (and your random bloodline) back to the Gateway if say you'd like to espouse some legit relationship with Anne Boleyn, or in my mother's case, a few Magna Carta Barons and yes, even to the sister of William the Conqueror.
Go figure, right?
However, as the kids say, The Sage Family is dope.
I know what you're thinking, (that it's all utter bullshit) and I don't blame you. However, consider only that the good folks at the N.E.H.G.S. said my proofs to the Gateway were "okay" and that they were lineage society worthy. See? Just when you thought we had no claim at all to that castle in Balmoral.
Not to mention that the Sage family has some of the coolest relatives. Not only are our Sage lines related to the Salem Witches, but who wouldn't want to call the bastard son of Benedict Arnold's cousin?
But as usual, I digress.
I realize that "okay" doesn't mean the same thing as "perfect."
(Ah! My work is never done.)
Since I've been re-visiting each of my great grandparents, and seeing as the friendly-looking nineteenth-century rancher Samuel Selah Sage pictured above is my key to a royal "Gateway," (a man called Obadiah Bruen 1606-1681) I thought I should revisit the proofs I'd submitted to N.E.H.G.S.. As I've mentioned before, it's always a good idea to revisit your work, and if possible improve on it. As I looked through the old proofs that tie my great grandfather albeit to a Gateway Ancestor and to European Royalty I saw something that bothered me a bit.
When I assembled the proofs almost a decade ago, I relied heavily on the Genealogical Record of the Descendants of David Sage by Charles and Elisha Sage. (Images above) It's like the "go-to" book for the Sage family and their ancestry.
The trouble is, it's terribly unsourced. Don't get me wrong. It's a great book. However, I think old cousin Elisha Sage was more interested in lauding the fact that our ancestral forebearers hid Benedict Arnold's children from the patriots as they burned through the town or applauding some Coat of Arms that doesn't belong to anyone in the Sage family at all - and may or may not have been bequeathed to them by William the Conqueror. Yeah, it's so 19th-century genealogical parlor games edition stuff.
Then there's the fact that there needs to be a source citation for something or anything to be had. Eeewww. In The Sage Genealogy, the references are few.
Cheyenne State Leader, Cheyenne Wyoming, Sept 30, 1914, page 8
So I wondered: How could I be certain about which branch of the Sage family we fit into outside of The Sage Genealogy? How could I independently verify the names of Sam's brothers and sisters? I was concerned too about linking old Sam up in the picture above to his father Selah. As of yet, I haven't found a Last Will and Testament for Sam's father Selah. Beyond census records, and an erstwhile obituary I felt I needed more.
Apparently, they'd been sued over water rights.
What the gist is of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, lawsuit that names them over water rights I haven't yet discerned. In a way, this 1914 article's purport doesn't matter - insofar as it names five of the twelve siblings of Sam Sage as listed in the Sage Genealogy above.
What better way to verify the name of family members than to have them publicly sued in a state Supreme Court?
Papillion Times, Papillion, Nebraska, February 26, 1926, page 8
Still, I looked further, and I still need more. Then, I found the second lawsuit, this time for land and mineral rights in Nebraska. This article from Papillion, Nebraska in 1926 goes so far as to name nine of the twelve children listed in The Sage Genealogy - and it specifically names who their father was:
Selah Sage.
Turns out Sam was orphaned and cared for by an older brother.
Is it me or is it unusual that Selah Sage had been dead for fifty years at the time of this court proceeding?
Is somebody trying to rip Grandpa's estate off?
I wonder...
Anyway,
Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Okay, it's not a big deal. However, at least it's a better tie and additional proof that gets us closer to our already-known Gateway Ancestor.
And it proves that old cousin Elisha Sage did his homework when he wrote his book.
In the meantime, I wanted to reshare this blurb about the Sages, General Washington, and those pesky kids of Benedict Arnold. I may revisit the subject of Arnold's bastard, John Arnold Sage at a later date.
It's always fun to have a great bastard in the tree.
Don't forget - you come from some amazing folks.
Peace.
The plot thickens.
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