James Savage (banker)

James Savage (1784–1873) was an American banker and author. He was one of the founding fathers of Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston established in 1816 as the first chartered savings bank in the United States. James was also well known for his research as an antiquary and as author of "A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England." He was instrumental in helping his son-in-law, William Barton Rogers, establish MIT and helping his cousin, Frederic Tudor, establish the ice trade in the West Indies, among many other ventures.

James Savage was born on Winter Street, in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 13, 1784, as the ninth child of father Habijah "Thomas" Savage Jr. (April 27, 1741 - Nov. 22, 1806), a merchant, and mother Elizabeth Tudor (March 31, 1745- February 2, 1787). He was a fifth generation of the descendant of one of the first Pilgrims, Major Thomas Savage, who came to Massachusetts from England in 1635.

Savage was just three years old when his mother died giving birth to the family's 12th child, Arthur. Totally devastated by his wife's loss, his father was admitted as "insane" to Andover, MA, "without ever gaining his reason." With this, Savage and his siblings, Elizabeth and Arthur, were sent to be raised by William Savage, a blacksmith in Taunton, Massachusetts.

Savage obtained the Franklin metal in 1795, and attended the Washington Academy in Machias, Maine, and the Derby Academy in Hingham, Massachusetts, before going to Harvard University, just as his grandfather did in 1695. After graduating Harvard in 1803, he went on to studied law at the office of Isaac Parker in Portland, Maine.

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