Elizabeth (Rutherford) Savage (1817 - 1899)

Born 6 Apr 1817 in Bridgetown, St. Micheal's Parish, Barbados

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Staughton Savage — married 1844 in Liberia, West Africa

Descendants

Died 29 Mar 1899 at age 81 in New York City, New York County, New York, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Dave Rutherford [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Rutherford Name Study.

She is the daughter of actors William Rutherford and Eliza Ann Fenwick. She was born on Easter Sunday in 1817 and baptized on May 7, 1817 at St. Michael's Parish in Barbados. Her parents separated when she was still a toddler, with her father leaving the family in Barbados and sailing back to England.

When Elizabeth was five, she accompanied her mother, her grandmother Eliza Fenwick and her siblings to New York City, arriving on the "Cannon" on July 15, 1822. Her mother would die when she was only ten, leaving Elizabeth and her brothers in the care of their grandmother. Her mother's death would be reported by Charles Lamb: "I have only to tell, with extreme regret, that poor Elisa Fenwick (that was) Mrs. Rutherford is dead; and that we have received a most heart broken letter from her mother left with four grandchildren, orphans of a scoundrel lurking about the pothouses of Little Russell Street."^[1]

Elizabeth (or Bessie as her grandmother called her) would remain at her grandmother's side almost continuously until Eliza Fenwick's death in 1840. The only exception would be the winter of 1832-33 which Elizabeth spent in New York City studying music and furthering her education. When she was not yet fourteen, her grandmother would write about her amiability and gentleness, declaring her to be a great comfort and help.

They would first settle in Niagara on the Lake where Eliza had found a teaching position. From there the little family moved to York, the capital of Upper Canada where Eliza taught at King's College (later University of Toronto) and Elizabeth found work as a governess.

While in York/Toronto Elizabeth and her grandmother were very much a part of colonial society. Elizabeth, in particular, attended many balls and debuts while she was there. In one letter to New York, she scolds her friend Adeline for her attitude towards British nobility, defending Governor Colborne and his family, reporting that the Colborne's were not too proud to walk to church on Sundays, allowing their servants the freedom to attend as well.

Elizabeth also attended Church of England services, reporting that Arch Deacon Strachan spoke with such a thick Scottish brogue as to be incomprehensible.

In August of 1838, now in her seventies and facing increasing deafness, Elizabeth's grandmother left King's College and retired to the home of Alexander Duncan in Sodus Bay, New York. 'Bessie' would accompany her and become governess to the Duncan's little girls.

Following her grandmother's death in 1840 and the completion of her duties as governess to the Duncan children, Elizabeth would take nursing training and embark for West Africa with the missions. There she would meet and marry Rev. Thomas Savage.

Elizabeth's first child was a daughter who she named after her grandmother, Elizabeth Fenwick. She would name her first son Alexander Duncan to honor the man who had done so much for her and her grandmother. (Including bankrolling her studies in New York City.^[2]) And she would name her other two sons after William and Thomas, her two brothers who drowned in Lake Ontario in 1834. Her last child was another daughter, Jessie Duncan, who was named after Alexander Duncan's little girl, who she had taught, who died at the age of fourteen, while Elizabeth was away in Africa.

Elizabeth died in New York City on March 29, 1899 just a week shy of her 82nd birthday. She is buried in Rhinebeck, NY.^[3]

Complete Biography of Elizabeth (Rutherford) Savage

Sources

• "Caribbean, Births and Baptisms, 1590-1928," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XLK3-9BC : accessed 24 Aug 2014), Elizabeth Rutherford, ; citing SAINT MICHAEL,BARBADOES,CARIBBEAN, reference ; FHL microfilm 1157926.

• New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, M237, 1820-1897, Roll 003, pg. 258 of 1098.

• 1850 US Federal Census, Mississippi, Harrison, Pass Christian, pg. 2 of 15.

• 1860 US Federal Census, Mississippi, Harrison, Police District 3, pg. 26 of 28.

• 1880 US Federal Census, New York, Dutchess, Rhinecliff, 066, pg. 1 of 12.

• The Complete Works and Letters of Charles Lamb, BENNETT A. CERF · DONALD S. KLOPFER THE MODERN LIBRARY NEW YORK.

• Find A Grave Memorial #98802144.

• Photo of Sodus Bay home from Wikimedia Commons,^[4]

• John Moffat and his wife Hannah along with their son Reuben and daughter Adeline were friends of the author Eliza Fenwick and her granddaughter Elizabeth Rutherford. John acted as a mentor and also managed Eliza's financial affairs, perhaps even subsidising some of her ventures. Their original correspondence, ranging from 1830-1840, has been preserved in a collection at the New York Historical Society and transcribed by Professor Lissa Paul of Brock University.

Footnotes

1. ↑ The Complete Works and Letters of Charles Lamb, pg. 927.
2. ↑ Letter from Eliza Fenwick to Mr. and Mrs. Moffat, September 28, 1832.
3. ↑ Entered by Dave Rutherford, April 10, 2014
4. ↑ Part of Alasa Farms or The Sodus Bay Shaker Tract, the home was originally built and occupied by the Shakers. Now known as the Deacon's House, it was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2009.