Sage was the first person to advocate in Congress for the purchase of George Washington's plantation, Mount Vernon, by the government.

After retiring from politics Sage settled in New York City, where he engaged in the business of selling puts and calls, as well as short-term options known as privileges.

He used the options to synthesize loans at a higher interest rate than state usury laws allowed, for which he was convicted in 1869 and fined $500, with a suspended jail sentence.

At the same time he saw the future of railroads, and secured stocks in western roads, notably the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway.

Following the collapse of the Grant & Ward scheme in 1884, Sage faced a run from holders of put options that he had sold.

Disabled for life, Laidlaw aggressively pursued the lawsuits, winning $43,000 in damages after four trials, but a Court of Appeals reversed the award.

The writer Paul Sarnoff suggested in his biography of Sage that he may have remarried for appearance's sake, and may never have consummated his second marriage.

To the left of the memorial is a bench which contains a relief of Medusa on the center of the back, complete with snakes as hair.

[12] Olivia Sage devoted a major portion of the money she inherited from her husband to philanthropy, including buildings and other memorials to him.

In addition she gave extensively to the Emma Willard School and to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, her husband's home town.

[15] During World War II the Liberty ship SS Russell Sage was built in Panama City, Florida, and named in his honor.