Rufus Butler Sage - Writer, Adventurer, and Warren Township Teacher

"I keep in a splendid large brick school house 

situated on the bank of the beautiful Ohio, and can see the 

steamboats passing and repassing most any time if a mind to look."

Following a harrowing journey from his home in Connecticut, Rufus B. Sage arrived in Marietta, Ohio, on November 18, 1836, about seven o’clock in the evening. He was welcomed to town by his sister Jerusha, who was married to Marietta’s Baptist minister, Hiram Gear. Within two days, Rufus had accepted a position as a schoolteacher in Warren Township, along the Ohio River between Marietta and Belpre. His pay was $16 per month, and in a letter to his mother written December 11, 1836, Rufus expressed his happiness with the job: “I keep in a splendid large brick schoolhouse, situated on the bank of the beautiful Ohio, and can see the steamboats passing and repassing most any time if a mind to look.”

Rufus B. Sage

From Rufus B. Sage, His Letters and Papers, 1836-1847, Vol. 1

Ed. by LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Haven (1956)

According to H. Z. Williams’ History of Washington County, Ohio (1881), the brick schoolhouse at Constitution had been built about ten years earlier on the “upper part of Seth Bailey’s farm.” It also served as a meeting place and house of worship until the first church was built along the river road in 1837. Although the situation provided Rufus with a promising start to a teaching career, he soon learned that the job did not come without its challenges. In a letter to his mother written a few years later, November 8, 1839, he recalled his work as a teacher in Warren Township:

The building in which I taught, served the double purpose of school house and church. It was a choice place for ideas to expand and shoot forth, as there were plenty of holes in the fabric, that the tender faculty might not be too much compressed, or the lungs suffer for want of fresh air. A chimney was erected at one end of the building, with a huge fire-place in which might be placed a half cord of wood without much trouble; but the greatest inconvenience connected with a fire built in it, on a cold day was, that as fast as one could warm himself on one side, he would nearly freeze on the other; and it was very harassing to me to hear the continued yelp of "please to let me go to the fire," from a dozzen voices at once, all day long.

As all the children could not be permitted to be at the fire constantly, on account of room, complaint was made to the parents, that the teacher would keep them away from the fire till they nearly froze. The almost unanimous conclusion of the sympathizing parents was that I was too hard-hearted to have the management of children; the precious little creatures – they were not going to send them to school to freeze to death. At length, many solicited the directors, that the school should be discontinued, and such an arrangement was effected, after one month’s duration. I returned to Marietta much depressed in spirits, and nearly determined never again to act in the capacity of teacher of a common school. 

Rufus’ next position in Marietta was with the local newspaper, the Marietta Gazette, where he worked until about 1838. In 1840, he embarked on an adventure in the west, exploring the region of the Rocky Mountains and beyond. A few years later he returned to Ohio and became involved in political campaigns and newspaper editing. He soon decided that the letters and notes from his western journey should be shared in a book and traveled back to Connecticut to work on the project. In 1846, Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, and in Oregon, California, New Mexico, Texas, and the Grand Prairies, was published by Carey & Hart of Philadelphia.

Back in his hometown of Cromwell, Rufus realized how much he had missed his family. He also fell in love and married Marietta Miller in 1847. Rufus settled down on a farm, where he and Marietta raised five children. He remained in Connecticut until his death in 1893.

The correspondence and other papers of Rufus B. Sage are held in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.

Source: Rufus B. Sage, His Letters and Papers, 1836-1847, Vol. 1, Ed. by LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Haven (1956)