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Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:
Gale

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[This information is from Vol. I, pp. 419-423 of Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, edited by Cuyler Reynolds (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911). It is in the Reference collection of the Schenectady County Public Library at R 929.1 R45. Some of the formatting of the original, especially in lists of descendants, may have been altered slightly for ease of reading.]

This is an ancient English family possessed of estates and bearing arms. They are early of record in America, in Massachusetts, 1634, and Connecticut in 1665. The progenitor of the Gale family of Troy, New York, is probably Edmond Gale, of Boston, who died in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1642. His children are believed to have been:

  1. Thomas, settled in New Haven, Connecticut;
  2. Robert;
  3. Ambrose;
  4. Bartholomew;
  5. Edmond (2), married Sarah Dixey;
  6. Abell, of further mention;
  7. Eliezer, married Elizabeth Bishop.

(II) Abell, son of Edmond Gale, had granted him October 18, 1665, at Jamaica, Long Island, "a lot to set his house on." He was called "husbandman." The records show several purchases and sales of real estate. He was a member of the First Presbyterian church. He married (probably in England) Dinah ————. Children:

  1. John, of further mention;
  2. Jacob, a house carpenter, died 1720;
  3. Nehemiah, a weaver;
  4. Thomas, a weaver;
  5. Sarah, married Benjamin Smith;
  6. Andrew.

(III) John, eldest son of Abell and Dinah Gale, was born in Jamaica, Long Island, where he owned mills and lived until 1721, when he sold his mills for fifteen hundred pounds and removed to Goshen, Orange county, New York, becoming one of the proprietors of that then new town. The Jamaica records show him a soldier in Captain Peter Schuyler's company in 1692, probably serving against the French; he was vestryman in 1717. His wife was Mary ————. His will, dated May 3, 1746, proved October 24, 1750, names children:

  1. John, of further mention.
  2. Daniel.
  3. Thomas, a member of the New York house of assembly, 1739 to 1750, and judge of the court of common pleas, of Orange county, 1740 to 1749.
  4. Abraham.
  5. Hezekiah, of Walkill, Ulster county, New York.
  6. Joseph.
  7. Dr. Benjamin, born December 14, 1715; graduate of Yale College, 1733; studied medicine and settled at Killingworth, Connecticut, where he practiced, and died May 6, 1790. He was a distinguished writer on the Old Testament prophecies, medical subjects and agriculture. His versatility is seen from the fact that the London Medical Magazine published and warmly complimented an article of his on "Small Pox," and the London Society for the Promotion of Arts and Commerce awarded him a gold medal "for an improvement in the drill plow." He married, June 6, 1739, Hannah Eliot, born October 15, 1713, died June 27, 1781, descendant of John Eliot, the teacher and apostle to the Indians. Children:
    1. Elizabeth, born December 3, 1740, died November 18, 1818; married Samuel Gale;
    2. Catherine, born June 21, 1742, died June 19, 1797; married Jeremiah Atwater, of New Haven, Connecticut;
    3. Mary, born February 3, 1744, married Dr. John Redfield, of Guilford, Connecticut;
    4. Julianna, born November 14, 1746, married Leverett Hubbard, of New Haven, Connecticut;
    5. Hannah, born April 12, 1748, died November 26, 1797, unmarried;
    6. Mehitable, born December 13, 1749, married Archibald Austin, of New Haven, Connecticut;
    7. Samuel, born December 9, 1751 died December 21, 1751;
    8. Benjamin, born February 22, 1755, died March 31, 1855.
  8. Catherine, married ———— Ludlam.

(IV) John (2), son of John (1) and Mary Gale, was born May 30, 1697, died 1760; will proved January 27, 1761. He is believed to have lived at Stamford, Connecticut, from 1732 to 1736, and was a surveyor. He married, November 8, 1723, Hannah Coe, born August 24, 1704. Children:

  1. Anna, born August 21, 1724; married Rev. Elmer, of New Jersey.
  2. Daniel, born January 5, 1726; will proved 1756; married Dinah ————; he had sons: Moses, a physician, and Daniel.
  3. Moses, born September 2, 1728.
  4. Dr. John, born August 18, 1731; surgeon in the American army in the French war; surrogate of Orange county, New York, 1768; married, May 10, 1756, Ann, daughter of David Jones, of Queens county, New York; speaker of colonial assembly and judge of the supreme court.
  5. Benjamin, born September 8, 1734; will proved 1782; deacon of the First Presbyterian Church of Goshen; married Eleanor Carpenter.
  6. Sarah, born April 2, 1737; married ———— Bull.
  7. Keziah, born April 5, 1740; married Roger Townsend.
  8. Samuel, of further mention.
  9. Coe, born December 17, 1745, died 1826; married (first) ———— Carpenter; (second) Widow Wisner.

(V) Samuel, son of John (2) and Hannah (Coe) Gale, was born in Goshen, New York, March 3, 1743, died at Troy, New York, January 9, 1799. After graduating from Yale College, he entered the office of his uncle, Dr. Benjamin Gale, of Killingworth, Connecticut, to prepare for the profession of medicine. He completed his medical studies and began practice with Dr. Benjamin Gale, his preceptor, in Killingworth. He served during the revolution, being appointed a captain by Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, May 1, 1775. His name is on the "Lexington Alarm List" from the town of Killingworth as captain, showing a service of six days. His captain's commission was as captain of the Eighth Company, sixth regiment, Connecticut Continental Line, Colonel Parsons, raised on the first call for troops in April-May, 1775; was reorganized and adopted as a continental regiment under Colonel Parsons in 1776. His first term of service under his commission as captain expired December 19, 1775. He saw active service in New England and New York during his first campaigns and rendered subsequent service. In July, 1779, on Tryon's invasion of Connecticut, he was at the head of his company, Colonel Worthington's regiment, with other Connecticut troops that turned out to repel the invasion. At the close of the revolution in August, 1787, he sailed with his wife, five sons and two daughters from Killingworth, for the upper Hudson valley, having decided to locate at Lansingburg. The passage up the river was so slow that he did not reach Van Der Heyden's Ferry (Troy) until the beginning of September. He had previously rented a house at Lansingburg, but his delay in arriving had lost him that dwelling, and on the solicitation of Jacob D. Van Der Heyden, he occupied part of his house until he could complete his own dwelling, which he erected on the west side of the river road (now River street), on the second lot south of present Ferry street. Here he resided until 1798, when he removed to his second home in Troy, 119 First street, where he died, as did his wife and all their children, except John, Samuel and Sarah, the latter occupying the home until her death in 1862. Dr. Gale's skill as a physician brought him abundant practice among the settlers of Troy and the neighboring farmers. He was well-known and had the public confidence. He was one of the organizers of First Presbyterian church of Troy, and elected December 31, 1791, a member of the first board of trustees, holding the office many years. He was a member of the Masonic order and a charter member of Apollo Lodge, No. 40, the first lodge established in the village in 1796. He married, September 4, 1766, his cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Gale. Children:

  1. Benjamin, born August 8, 1767, died August 26, 1817.
  2. John, born December 8, 1769, died September 29, 1846; married Remember Mary Sherman, widow of ———— Brown.
  3. Samuel, of further mention.
  4. Juliana, born April 28, 1774, died April 1, 1791, unmarried.
  5. Daniel, born August 24, 1776, died September 24, 1776.
  6. Sarah (Sally), born February 20, 1778, died September 2, 1862, unmarried.
  7. Roger Townsend, born September 15, 1780, died January 8, 1854, unmarried.
  8. William, born August 17, 1782, died March 3, 1813, unmarried.

Of the foregoing, Benjamin and John established as merchants in Troy.

(VI) Samuel (2), son of Samuel (1) and Elizabeth (Gale) Gale, was born April 24, 1772, died July 21, 1839. He was graduated M. D., May 9, 1792, by First Medical Society in Vermont. Went to the West Indies, where he practiced his profession for a short time. Returning to the United States he settled in Troy, where he established a drug store that he conducted for many years. This was the foundation and beginning of the latter day house of John L. Thompson, Sons & Company, a leading wholesale firm of Troy. In 1804 he was appointed postmaster of Troy, holding until 1828. He was a member of the first board of directors of the Rensselaer and Saratoga Insurance Company, incorporated in 1814; a manager of the Troy Savings Bank, incorporated 1823; director of the Farmers' Bank of Troy; treasurer of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, organized 1806. He married, September 15, 1811, Mary, born December 19, 1788, died January 1, 1853, daughter of Ezra (2) Thompson, of Stanford, Dutchess county, New York (see Thompson VIII). Children:

  1. Samuel William, born September 1, 1812, died September 27, 1813.
  2. William Samuel, born July 10, 1816, died June 30, 1817.
  3. Ezra Thompson, of further mention.
  4. Mary Elizabeth, born February 13, 1822, died November 12, 1829.
  5. John Benjamin, born May 9, 1824, died May 17, 1906; married (first) October 6, 1846, Elizabeth Van Schoonhoven Wells, born August 8, 1824, died June 5, 1871; married (second) January 27, 1873, Catherine J. Wells, sister of his first wife, born February 16, 1829, who survives him, a resident of Williamstown, Massachusetts. The controversy between Bishop Doane and John B. Gale arose over this second marriage. Children:
    1. May Elizabeth, born August 12, 1847, died April 17, 1857;
    2. Caroline deForest, born December 27, 1848, married, April 29, 1874, Edward Reynolds Hun, of Albany, who died March 14, 1880;
    3. Frederick Wells, born March 29, 1850, died May 6, 1876.

(VII) Ezra Thompson, son of Dr. Samuel (2) and Mary (Thompson) Gale, was born at Troy, New York, April 27, 1819, died July 4, 1887. He was educated in preparatory schools and was graduated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, class of 1837. He established in the hardware business in Troy, in 1840, a junior partner of the firm of Brinkerhoff, Catlin & Gale. In 1843 the firm became E. Thompson, Gale & Company, continuing until 1853, when it was changed to Catlin & Sexton, with Mr. Gale as a special partner. The firm manufactured and dealt in hardware, conducting an extensive business. In 1857 he withdrew from connection with the firm and henceforth devoted all his time to the business of banking. In 1850 he had been elected a director of the Farmer's Bank, president 1859 to 1865, and in the latter year, when the bank was consolidated with the Bank of Troy, he was chosen president of the new institution, holding that position until 1885. He was one of the promoters of the Troy & Boston railroad in 1848; an organizer of Troy Gas Company; director of Troy Savings Bank; director of Rensselaer & Saratoga railroad; trustee of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; deeply interested in the Young Men's Association, and placed the "Gale Alcove" in its library in memory of his deceased son, Alfred deForest Gale; also was an active friend of the Troy Female Seminary and supported by purse and influence every good work in the city, regardless of creed or nationality. He built the memorial chapel at the Day Home and was a strong supporter of the cause of education. His love for his alma mater was an enduring one and he worked continuously for its betterment and endowment. He married, January 17, 1844, Caroline deForest, of New York City, born May 27, 1823, died March 2, 1864, a descendant of the Huguenot, Isaac deForest, a very early settler on Manhattan Island (see deForest VII). Children:

  1. Alfred deForest, born October 8, 1845, died March 30, 1877, unmarried; member of Lane, Gale & Company.
  2. Eliot Thompson, born August 21, 1847, died December 2, 1848.
  3. Benjamin Herbert, born May 23, 1850, died May 14, 1851.
  4. Mary deForest, born September 10, 1852, died February 17, 1905; married, January 4, 1882, John Clatworthy, of Taunton, England, born July 26, 1836, died October 26, 1902, at Troy.
  5. Margaret Eliza, now a resident of Washington, D. C.
  6. Edward Courtland, of further mention.
  7. Caroline deForest, married (first) January 17, 1888, S. Alexander Troy, of Troy, born February 11, 1859, died December 2, 1908; children:
    1. Constance deForest,
    2. Elaine Eliot,
    3. Grace Alexis; married (second) Frederick Augustus Von Bernuth, Jr., of New York City, nephew of John Clatworthy.

(VIII) Edward Courtland, son of Ezra Thompson and Caroline (deForest) Gale, was born October 28, 1861, in Troy, New York. He was educated at Troy Academy, St. John's School at Sing Sing, New York, and entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he was graduated civil engineer, class of 1883. He never followed his profession, but after the death of his father filled the place of his father as a banker and manufacturer of hardware; director of the United National Bank of Troy since 1888; trustee of Troy Savings Bank since 1888; trustee of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; trustee of Troy Public Library; president of Eagle Square Manufacturing Company, of South Shaftsbury, Vermont, making steel carpenter's squares, etc; president of Albany & Vermont Railroad Company; vice-president of Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad Company; vice-president of Saratoga & Schenectady Railroad Company; secretary and treasurer of Troy & Greenbush Railroad Company. He served in the New York National Guard from 1883 to 1892, and during the Spanish-American war was captain of Company A, second Regiment Infantry, New York Volunteers, United States army. He is now president of the Troy Citizens Corps. For eight years he was a volunteer fireman of Troy, belonging to the Arba Read Steamer Company. In politics he is an Independent Republican, and during the years 1905-06-07 served on the Republican county committee. He is a member of Delta Phi (R. P. I. fraternity), the Troy, Pafraets Dael and Island Golf clubs of Troy, and the Grolier Club of New York City. He married, April 24, 1888, Mary Warren, daughter of John I. Thompson, of Troy. Children:

  1. Alfred Warren, born January 2, 1892;
  2. Harold deForest, born January 18, 1896;
  3. Marie Carolyn;
  4. Katherine.

(The Eliot Line)

Hannah Eliot, wife of Dr. Benjamin Gale, and mother of Elizabeth Gale, wife of Samuel Gale, was a descendant of John Eliot, known as "the apostle to the Indians." He was born 1604, at Nasin, Essex county, England; arrived in Boston November 3, 1631, on the ship "Lion"; married, October, 1632, Annie Mountfort, born 1604, died March 24, 1687.

(II) Rev. Joseph Eliot, son of John and Annie (Mountfort) Eliot, was born December 20, 1638, died May 24, 1694; married (first) about 1675, Sarah Brenton, who died about 1681, daughter of William Brenton, governor of Rhode Island. He married (second) 1684, Mary, daughter of Samuel Wyllys, of Hartford, Connecticut, son of Governor Wyllys. Samuel Wyllys married Ruth, daughter of Governor John and Mabel (Harlakenden) Haynes, of Massachusetts.

(III) Jared Eliot, M.D., D.D., son of Rev. Joseph and Mary (Wyllys) Eliot, was born November 7, 1685, died April 22, 1763. He married, October 26, 1710, Elizabeth, born 1693. died February 18, 1761, daughter of Samuel Smithson, of Guilford, Connecticut, who was the emigrant from Brayfield, Northamptonshire, England.

(IV) Hannah, daughter of Jared and Elizabeth (Smithson) Eliot, married Dr. Benjamin Gale, son of John Gale (see Gale III).

(V) Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Benjamin and Hannah (Eliot) Gale, married her cousin, Samuel Gale, of Goshen, New York.

(The Thompson Line)

Mary Thompson, wife of Dr. Samuel Gale, of Troy, descended from Henry Thompson, of Lenham, England, and Dorothy, his wife.

(II) Anthony, son of Henry and Dorothy Thompson, was born at Lenham, Kent county, England, August 30, 1612, died March, 1684. He landed at Boston from the ship "Hector," July 26, 1637, and was one of the first settlers of New Haven, Connecticut, and signed the Colony Constitution, June 4, 1669. The name of his first wife is unknown. His second was Katherine ————.

(III) John, eldest son of Anthony Thompson and his first wife, was born 1632. He is called "Skipper" John Thompson, and John Thompson, "the mariner," and Mr. John Thompson. He died June 2, 1707. His wife Hellena died October 8, 1690.

(IV) Captain Samuel Thompson, son of John and Hellena Thompson, was born May 12, 1669, at New Haven, Connecticut, died March 26, 1749; married, November 14, 1695, Rebecca, daughter of Lieutenant-Governor James Bishop, of Connecticut, and his wife, Elizabeth Tompkins. Captain Thompson was a merchant, and was successively sergeant, ensign, lieutenant and captain.

(V) Samuel (2), son of Captain Samuel (1) and Rebecca (Bishop) Thompson, was born December 2, 1696, at New Haven, Connecticut. He married Sarah (or Hester) Allen (or Alling), January 20, 1719. He settled in Goshen, Connecticut, removing from there to Stanford, Dutchess county, New York, where with his brothers he bought twenty-eight hundred acres of land.

(VI) Ezra, son of Samuel (2) and Sarah (or Hester) (Allen) Thompson, was born 1734; married Rachel Smith, and resided in Stanford, New York.

(VII) Ezra (2), son of Ezra (1) and Rachel (Smith) Thompson, was born at Stanford, New York, September 3, 1765, died April 3, 1829; married, July 13, 1786, Sally Burton, of Amenia, New York, born about 1767, died November 21, 1807, at Poughkeepsie, New York.

(VIII) Mary, daughter of Ezra (2) and Sally (Burton) Thompson, married Dr. Samuel Gale.

(The deForest Line)

(III) David, son of Isaac (q. v.) and Sarah (du Trieux) deForest, was baptized September, 1669, died April 20, 1721. He married, 1699, Martha, daughter of Samuel, son of Captain Benjamin Blagge. David deForest settled in Stratford, Connecticut, in 1695.

(IV) David (2), son of David (1) and Martha (Blagge) deForest, was born April 24, 1702; will dated April 18, 1748. He settled at Wilton, a parish of Norwalk, Connecticut. He married Abigail ————.

(V) Elihu, son of David (2) and Abigail de Forest, was born 1735; married, May 4, 1761, Rachel, daughter of David and Lurania (Bills) Lambert. David Lambert, born 1700, son of Jesse Lambert, who came from England in 1680, settled at Milford, Connecticut; married, May 10, 1688, Deborah Fowler.

(VI) Benjamin, son of Elihu and Rachel (Lambert) deForest, was born July 16, 1771, baptized 1777, died October 27, 1850; married, September 29, 1804, Mary, daughter of Thomas Burlock, born January 14, 1759, married, December 27, 1779, Mary Layton, born May 5, 1757; died August 13, 1827. The Layton sisters were famed for their fine personal appearance and were known as the "Long Island beauties."

(VII) Caroline, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Burlock) deForest, married Ezra Thompson Gale (see Gale VII).

(VIII) Edward Courtland, son of Ezra Thompson and Caroline (deForest) Gale, married Mary Warren Thompson, and is now (1911) a resident of Troy, New York.

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