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Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace

Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace: Usury
Charging illegally high interest rates on loans

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in chronological order

  Russell Sage (1816-1906) — also known as "The Sage of Troy"; "The Money King"; "Father of Puts and Calls"; "Old Straddle" — of Troy, Rensselaer County, N.Y.; New York, New York County, N.Y. Born in Verona, Oneida County, N.Y., August 4, 1816. Whig. Merchant; banker; Rensselaer County Treasurer; delegate to Whig National Convention from New York, 1848; U.S. Representative from New York 13th District, 1853-57; railroad builder; arrested in 1869 and charged with violation of New York usury laws by charging high interest rates on loans; fined and sentenced to five days in prison, which was later suspended. On December 4, 1891, Henry Norcross, a stockbroker, brought a bomb to Sage's office in New York City as part of an extortion scheme; when his demands were refused, he detonated the bomb, but Sage suffered only minor injuries. Died in Lawrence, Nassau County, Long Island, N.Y., July 22, 1906 (age 89 years, 352 days). Interment at Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, N.Y.
  Relatives: Son of Prudence (Risley) Sage and Elisha Sage, Jr.; married, January 23, 1840, to Maria-Henrie Winne; married, November 24, 1869, to Margarett Olivia Slocum; fourth great-grandnephew of Robert Treat; second cousin once removed of Edgar Jared Doolittle; second cousin twice removed of Thomas Chittenden and Jonathan Brace; third cousin once removed of Martin Chittenden, Thomas Kimberly Brace, Alvah Nash and Dwight May Sabin; third cousin twice removed of Josiah Cowles; third cousin thrice removed of Robert Treat Paine; fourth cousin of Jeduthun Wilcox and Chittenden Lyon; fourth cousin once removed of Daniel Chapin, Orsamus Cook Merrill, Timothy Merrill, Daniel Upson, Greene Carrier Bronson, Daniel Kellogg, John Russell Kellogg, Leonard Wilcox, John Adams Taintor, John Calhoun Lewis, Millard Fillmore, Daniel Fiske Kellogg, Henry G. Taintor, Henry Gould Lewis and Daniel Frederick Webster.
  Political family: Merrill family of Vermont and New Hampshire (subset of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page
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