Charles Willard "Billy" Stage (November 26, 1868 – May 17, 1946) was an American attorney, politician, professional baseball umpire and amateur track athlete.

A native of Painesville, Ohio, Stage attended Western Reserve University, where he tied an amateur world record in the 100-yard dash.

In September 1893, Stage was studying at the Western Reserve School of Law when he tied a world record by running the 100-yard dash in 9.8 seconds at an AAU event.

When the paper's board of governors was unable to decide between Stage and a runner who had won two hurdling events, they cut the medal and presented half of it to each athlete.

Hughie Jennings, a player on the Baltimore Orioles, recalled that Stage might even slide next to a runner if he thought it would give him a better angle to make a close call.

[7] Stage participated in a few AAU track events in the fall of 1895 before he was declared ineligible because of his prior work as a professional baseball umpire.

In at least one case, Stage helped the brothers make a connection, facilitating their introduction to city solicitor Newton D. Baker, who became Cleveland's mayor and the United States Secretary of War.

[8] In the first decade of the 20th century, the Van Sweringens were making plans to develop Shaker Heights, Ohio, a proposed garden community like the one found at Roland Park in Baltimore, and they had a politically diverse group of financial backers.

Stage recalled that he was not convinced when he heard O. P. Van Sweringen's pitch the first time: "He was so doggone timid about the matter that when he left I remarked 'That young man will never make a real estate salesman.

The measure passed the House;[11] it was approved by voters the following year, giving the Governor of Ohio the most extreme veto power in the United States.

[12] After Stage left the Ohio House of Representatives, he served as general counsel, vice president and board member for the Cleveland Union Terminal (later known as Tower City Center).

[1] Shaker Heights survives as a community, but the Van Sweringen brothers lost most of their holdings in 1935, when they defaulted on loans totaling $48 million (equivalent to $1.07 billion today) as a result of the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

Kerruish's father William was the son of immigrants from the Isle of Man and, like Stage, had worked his way through Western Reserve to become a lawyer.

[2] A few years after his wife's death, Stage inherited a large tract of land from the Kerruish family in what is now known as Cleveland's Lee–Miles neighborhood.