Norfolk County MA Archives Biographies.....Gale, Amory 1800 - 1873
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Author: E. O. Jameson (1886)

REV. AMORY GALE, M. D.

AMORY GALE, son of Major Amory and Lucinda (Rich) Gale, was born Oct. 15, 1800,
in Warwick, Mass. His grandfather, Jonathan Gale, was a soldier in the War of
the Revolution, and a man of sterling traits of character. Major Amory Gale, his
father, was a blacksmith and a manufacturer of edged tools, a man of
intelligence and moral worth. His mother was a lineal descendant of Sir Richard
Rich, Lord High Chancellor of England under Edward VI., and the Earl of Warwick.
Mrs. Gale's father was a farmer, and owned a large grist mill. It is said of him
that when a scarcity of corn prevailed, having a large quantity on hand, he
declined to sell it to speculators at an advanced price, but allowed his
townsmen to purchase it at the usual price of corn when it was plentiful, for he
said: "I do not wish to enrich myself at the expense of my neighbors." The
subject of this sketch had the advantages of an academic education, was for a
time engaged in teaching, and then studied medicine with Dr. Taylor, of Warwick,
and Dr. Batchelder, of Royalston, Mass. In the fall of 1823 he went to attend
medical lectures in Hanover, N. H. The faculty considered him so far gone with
consumption that they would not receive from him the usual matriculation fee,
and plainly said to him: "Young man, you will be in your grave before the spring
flowers blossom." But he was determined to disappoint them. He took to
horse-back riding and vigorous exercise in the open air, and long outlived his
medical teachers. He completed the course of lectures and attended a second
course in the Medical School of Brown University, Rhode Island, where he
received in 1S24 the degree of M. D., his thesis at graduation receiving special
mention for excellence. Prior to entering upon the study of medicine, Mr. Gale
had a strong desire to enter the Christian ministry, but his ill-health forbade
it. Dr. Gale married Martha Leland, of Warwick, Mass., whose mother was a native
of East Medway. Mrs. Gale had been a teacher in the public schools for some
years at the time of her marriage. Dr. Gale practiced medicine in Barre, Mass.,
in Amherst, N. H., and in South Scituate, Mass. He often gave lectures on
scientific subjects. He was a pioneer in the temperance cause, and, by
lecturing, by writing, and by personal appeals, did much to promote this reform.
His principal purpose in locating at South Scituate was that he might study
theology with the Rev. Samuel J. May, who was at that time pastor of the
Unitarian Church in that town. He was ordained as an evangelist in Kingston,
Mass. In 1S44 he preached in East Bridgewater, Mass., Southington, Conn., and
Pembroke, Mass., then became the pastor of the Unitarian Church in Norton,
Mass., where for four years he labored with success. He then was called to
Barnstable, Mass., and when about to remove his family to that place he was
stricken with bronchitis, and was compelled to give up his chosen life work. He
resumed medicine as a homoeopathist, and had a large practice in Woonsocket, R.
I. After a few years, worn by professional labors, in the autumn of 1853, he
purchased a farm in East Medway to which he removed, and there spent the
remainder of his life. The Rev. Adin Ballou, in writing of him "as a
philanthropist and moral reformer," says: "The causes of temperance,
anti-slavery, peace, and every movement in favor of human progress found his
bosom open, warm, and responsive. He was among the pioneers of all these
reforms, and breasted the storms of reproach which outspoken testimony in their
behalf provoked in former times, with unflinching moral heroism. He was their
devoted friend and advocate when it cost something to be so. The same
characteristics marked his career in every development of progress which
startled the popular prejudice. His honest and manly nature demanded to know,
not what was established in conservative public opinion or interest, but what
was true, what was right. For this he searched fearlessly, and once convinced he
had found it, bravely took his stand on its side." "As a physician," he adds,
"he was remarkable for his intuitive insight into the causes and remedies of
disease, for the soothing and inspiring influence which he carried with him into
the sick chamber, and for the confidence which his benign sympathies and
counsels excited in the minds of his patients. He was physician both to their
bodies and souls." It can truly be said of Dr. Gale that whatever he did, he did
well. While always modest and unassuming in demeanor, and humble in his own
esteem, he performed many acts of private benevolence and rare kindness, known
only to those benefited by them. His long, busy life, full of faithful service
to humanity, was fitly closed with brightest anticipations of the life above. He
died Feb. 20, 1873, after a long and distressing illness, which he bore with
great patience and resignation. He was buried in Warwick, Mass.

   Mrs. Caroline R. James, eldest daughter of Dr. Gale, upon the death of her
husband in 1874, prepared herself for the Gospel ministry, and was ordained in
1878, being the third woman ordained to the ministry within the Unitarian
denomination. She was first settled as pastor of the Unitarian Church in
Brooklyn, Conn., and continued there until 1881, when she took charge of a
society in Francestown, N. H. Miss Martha L. Gale, the second daughter of Dr.
Gale, became a teacher in Clinton Seminary, Cooperstown, N. Y., and in Dean
Academy, Franklin, Mass. She also wrote for the press, and gave private
instruction in the French language.

   Miss Mary K. Gale studied medicine and was a successful practitioner in
Wollaston, Mass. James A. Gale, the only son of Dr. Gale, graduated in 1861 from
the Homoeopathic Medical College, Cleveland, O. He settled in West Medway and
was a well known and skillful physician.


Additional Comments:
THE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT PERSONS,
AND
The Genealogical Records
OF
MANY EARLY AND OTHER FAMILIES
IN
MEDWAY, MASS. 1713-1886.
Illustrated
WITH NUMEROUS STEEL AND WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
BY
E. O. JAMESON,
THE AUTHOR OK "THE COGSWELLS IN AMERICA," "THE HISTORY OF MEDWAY, MASS." ETC.
MILLIS, MASS. 1886.

Copyright, 1886.
E. O. JAMESON, MILLIS, MASS.
All Rights Reserved.

J. A. & R. A. REID, PRINTERS, PROVIDENCE, R. I.


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