James Savage was himself a product of the heritage that he labored so diligently to preserve. He was descended from Thomas Savage, who emigrated from England in 1635, settled in Boston, and married Faith Hutchinson, one of the daughters of Anne Hutchinson. The marriage took place in 1637, at the height of the Antinomian controversy, and testifies to Savage's independent spirit. The parents of James Savage were Habijah and Elizabeth Tudor Savage. Habijah Savage was a Boston merchant who went insane shortly after his wife died. James was only four when his mother died. He was raised in the household of a maternal uncle, sent to private academies in Massachusetts and Maine, and then enrolled at Harvard College. Though involved with the nephew of college president Joseph Willard in an unspecified prank that led to his suspension, Savage persevered to graduate with highest honors in 1803 and to be chosen class...