Fonds BCHS002 - Samuel Gale fonds

Samuel Gale was born at Kimpton, Hants, England, on October 14, 1747. He was raised and educated in England and came to the American Colonies in 1770. He apparently had a special knowledge of surveying, since he published The Complete Surveyor in March 1772. His wife, Rebecca, daughter of Col. Samuel Wells, was born at Deerfield, Mass., on January 23rd, 1752. They were married on June 25th, 1773, and she died at Farnham on January 23rd, 1826. They had two children, a son Samuel, who married Mary Matilda Hawley, of St. Armand West, on November 6th, 1839, and a daughter Hannah, who married Whipple Wells on June 29, 1814.
During his residence in New England his attachment to the Royal cause was very definite and he could not tolerate any opinion to the contrary. Being accustomed in his homeland to seeing the yeomanry only as obedient servants, his indignation knew no bounds when he witnessed their rebellion against constituted authority. His outspoken opinion resulted in his arrest on several occasions and in April 1776, when he was finally released on parole, he realized that he was ill-prepared to participate in civil commotion, and moved with his family to Quebec. Here he was employed by the Government, later as Secretary to Governor Prescott. He was one of the leading applicants for the Township of Farnham, and on October 22nd, 1798, they obtained the grant of this Township, consisting of twenty-three thousand acres.
In 1799 Gale accompanied the Governor to England. On his return, at about fifty-five years of age, he entered into the simple but arduous life of a pioneer farmer. He died at Farnham on June 27th, 1826, and was buried on his property, along with his wife and daughter. A funeral monument was erected and is still standing, being the property of the Brome County Historical Society since 1901.