William L. Savage was born on August 16, 1842, in Connecticut to Selah Savage and Sarah M. Mead. His father was a farmer who owned $7,050 of real estate and $1,400 of personal property in 1860. Savage grew up and attended school in Greenwich, Connecticut, and he began working as a farmer by 1860. He enlisted in the Union army on September 17, 1861, and mustered in as a sergeant in Company I of the 10^th Connecticut Infantry on October 2. The regiment spent the next two years along the North Carolina and South Carolina coasts, taking part in the Battles of Roanoke Island, New Bern and Fort Wagner. Savage eventually earned a promotion to 2^nd lieutenant. The army transferred the men to Virginia in 1864, and Savage was wounded in the Second Battle of Deep Bottom on August 16, 1864. He was discharged two months later, on October 18, 1864.

 

He returned to Greenwich after the war, and he married Sarah Elizabeth James around 1865. They had at least two children: Lewis, born around 1866; and Josephine, born around 1875. Savage continued to work as a farmer, and by 1870, he owned $700 of personal property. The family moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, sometime in the 1870s, and Savage began work as a joiner. Sarah died on September 26, 1881, and he married Ella T. Stickles around 1883. He applied for a federal pension in June 1891 and eventually secured one. By 1900, he had become a “Master Builder.” He died in Bridgeport on October 27, 1909.

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