Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage died November 4, 1918, at the age of 90, just two years after founding Russell Sage College. Her will, which had been drawn up 10 years earlier, distributed an estate of $50 million, which was on top of the $35 million she had given away in the years after Russell Sage’s death (there were no children from either of Russell Sage’s marriages). She gave $3 million to her brother, Joseph Jermain Slocum, and another $7 million in specific bequests to individuals. The remaining $40 million was broken into 52 equal parts, and each recipient received one or two parts. The money was distributed to some of her favorite beneficiaries, including the Ladies Christian Union of the City of New York, the Working Womens Protective union, the Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer, and others. Educational institutions including Northfield Seminary, Emma Willard and Rutgers benefited, as did numerous medical institutions. Union College, Hamilton College, Syracuse University, RPI, NYU and Smith were among the many colleges that received gifts. Her hometown of Syracuse was well-remembered in the will, with the university, the Home for indigent women, the First Presbyterian Church, and the Hospital of the Good Shepherd. “Until America’s entry into the war,” the Syracuse Herald wrote, “Mrs. Sage always remembered the Hospital of the Good Shepherd — with other Syracuse institutions — on her birthday.”
Each servant who had been in her employ for 10 years received $5000; for 5 years, $2,500.
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