Archives West Finding Aid

Charles Roscoe Savage was born in Southampton, England on August 16, 1832. His family was very poor, and Savage did not learn to read or write until later in life. At about age fifteen, he heard the preaching's of Elder Thomas B.H. Stenhouse, and became interested in the Mormon faith. He began working at Elder William Eddington's stationary store in Portsmouth, and was baptized May 21, 1848 by John Lewis. He was ordained in the fall of 1852 and sent on a mission to Switzerland, where he learned French and some German. He was also imprisoned in Zurich for three days, along with Elder William Budge.

After returning to England in 1855, Savage traveled as a missionary in the Derbyshire conference with Elder Israel Evans. On December 11, 1856, he was appointed interpreter for a group of Italian and Swiss Mormons and sailed to New York, arriving in February of 1857. Upon arrival, Savage was directed to assist in the transfer of other emigrant companies at Castle Gardens. He went on to work for Samuel Booth's printing office in New York for the next two years, and during this period met Annie Adkins whom he married.

Savage became interested in photography by observing the efforts of Thomas B.H. Stenhouse, and when he was sent on business to Florence, Nebraska, he made his first start in the photograph business. In 1859 he set out from Florence with a wagon and a yoke of cattle, and made it to Council Bluffs where he joined Captain Brown's company, arriving in Salt Lake on August 27, 1860.

Savage began a partnership with photographer Marsena Cannon and opened a photograph studio on the upper floor of a house on Main Street and the corner of South Temple. In 1862 he entered into a partnership with George M. Ottinger, a painter who tinted Savage's completed views. This partnership ended in 1864, and Ottinger's journal indicates that he was less than pleased with it. His business grew rapidly, and he began to travel all over the Rockies, making stereographs and other views for the railroads.

Part of his success as a photographer was due to his friendship and correspondence with New York City phrenologist and publisher Samuel R. Wells. Wells aided Savage by buying photographs and by getting them published, such as a photograph of Brigham Young in The Illustrated Annual of Phrenology and Physiognomy. This turned into a mutually beneficial relationship, with Savage selling Wells' publications at his store and Wells selling Savage and Ottinger photographs. Ottinger also benefitted as a painter, as Wells helped him sell some in New York. Savage eventually won gold medals and first prizes for his photographs at the Territorial Fairs (1888-1891), and several World Expositions in Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, and other places.

In his early days in Salt Lake City, Savage served for a number of years as a lieutenant, then later a captain, in the third regiment of infantry of the Nauvoo Legion. On November 21, 1870, he was arrested and held for two days with seven others who participated in the "Wooden Gun Rebellion," a muster of Nauvoo Legion troops against Governor Schaffer's proclamation forbidding any assembling of troops in Utah. Also in 1870, Savage accompanied Brigham Young and others on an exploration of the Upper Rio Virgin, including Little Zion Canyon.

Savage was ordained a high priest on May 9, 1873, and was a member of the High Council of the Salt Lake Stake until 1874. In 1875 he originated the idea of taking elderly people on excursions, a practice which was followed for years. For years, Savage delivered lectures on scenic Utah, illustrating them with photographic views, and contributed regularly to the Deseret News and local magazines on these subjects.

In 1883 a fire struck Savage's studio, destroying nearly his entire stock of negatives. This was an invaluable loss not only to the documentation of early Salt Lake City life, but also to those who appreciate photography as art.

Savage's first wife, Annie Adkins, died on November 30, 1893, after bearing him eleven children. He married Mary Emma Fowler in 1876, (she died in 1881), and Ellen Fenn in 1878, who bore him two children. In 1895 he married Annie Smith Clowes.

Savage died in Salt Lake City on February 3, 1909.

(This biography is necessarily sketchy due to a lack of sources; the L.D.S. Biographical Encyclopedia and George M. Ottinger's journal (MS 0123) were consulted.)