SNAPSHOTS IN TIME: G.M. SAVAGE

As you walk among Union’s campus, you’ll see buildings with different names. These names are connected to many who greatly impacted Union’s growth and history. One such name often associated with Union is Savage which is on the current chapel and named in honor of G.M. Savage. 

George M. Savage was born in 1849 in Rienzi, Miss. One of 19 children born to a Baptist preacher, Savage began preaching in 1865 at age 17. He entered college in 1869 and was ordained as a pastor in 1870 having been invited to preach at his home church. While in college, Savage was a tutor and enjoyed teaching.

 After marrying Fannie Williams of Eagleville, Tenn., Savage took a position as principal at the Masonic Male and Female Institute in Henderson, Tenn. Soon after, in 1877, he came to Union (then known as Southwestern Baptist University) as part of the teaching faculty. He only stayed a few years, returning to Henderson and then creating a school in Eagleville in 1884. 

He returned to SWBU, however, in 1890 this time as president. His tenure at SWBU (later named Union University in 1907) lasted 46 years, 17 of which he was president though in three separate terms. Savage became widely known to the Union community and earned the nickname “Union’s Grand Old Man” by the time of his retirement.  Savage died in 1938 at the home of his daughter in California. 

— Savannah Patterson
Union University, Jackson
Public services librarian