BIOGRAPHIES: George GALE, Galesville, Trempealeau Co., WI

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George Gale, jurist and pioneer, founder of Galesville, founder of Gale 
College, one of the framers of the Wisconsin constitution, and one of the 
organizers of Trempealeau County, was born on the banks of Lake Champlain, 
at Burlington, Vermont, Nov. 30, 1816.  His grandfather, Peter Gale, was a 
native of Vermont, and served in the Continental army; his father, whose 
name was also Peter, was one of the "Minute Men" of Barre, Vermont, in the 
War of 1812; his mother, whose name was Hannah Tottingham, was of genuine 
Puritan stock.  George Gale lived on a farm during his boyhood, and divided 
his time in working on a farm and attending school.  His schooling was 
thorough, and although he was not a graduate of any college, he acquired an 
excellent knowledge of the higher branches of mathematics and the sciences.  
In March, 1839, he commenced reading law at Waterbury Center, Vermont, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1841, having in the meantime served his village 
as postmaster.  Soon after becoming a lawyer, he came to the then territory 
of Wisconsin, and located at Elkhorn, in what is now Walworth County, where 
he practiced law, and at the same time continued his studies with great 
diligence.  In addition to his professional labors, he was for one year the 
editor of the Western Star, published in Elkhorn, to which he contributed 
many able articles. The Wisconsin Farm Book he first published in 1846, 
issuing revised editions in 1848, 1850 and 1856.  Soon after his arrival at 
Elkhorn, he entered public life, and was elected to various town and school 
offices, serving one term as chairman of the county board of supervisors.  
In 1847 the scope of his services broadened, and he was sent to the 
Constitutional Convention, in which body he was a prominent and hard working 
member, winning distinction for his labors on the judiciary committee.  The 
same year he was elected district attorney for his county.  It 1850 and 
1851, he served in the state senate, being chairman of the committee on 
privileges and elections in the first session, and chairman of the committee 
on industry the second session.  July 4, 1851, he received from the governor 
of the state, the appointment as brigadier-general in the militia.  In the 
fall of that year he moved to La Crosse, and shortly after his arrival was 
elected county judge of La Crosse County, having both common law and probate 
jurisdiction not only of La Crosse County, which then embraced a large area, 
but also over Chippewa County, which had been attached to La Crosse County 
for judicial purposes.  Jan. 1, 1854, he resigned, and in April, 1856, he 
was elected judge of the Sixth Judicial District, composed of the counties 
of Buffalo, Clark, Jackson, Monroe, Trempealeau, La Crosse, Vernon and 
Crawford, for the judicial term of six years, commencing Jan. 1, 1857.  The 
duties of this office he discharged with much dignity and ability.  During 
Judge Gale's residence at La Crosse, he urged very strongly upon the 
prominent citizens of that place the importance of their establishing a 
college or an institution of learning of a higher order, but the country 
being new, the project did not find favor with the people, and nothing was 
done to carry out this worthy project.  He shortly afterward decided to 
found a college and town on his own responsibility.  Accordingly in 1853, he 
purchased about 2,000 acres of land, including the present location of 
Galesville, with the water power on Beaver Creek, and in January, 1854, he 
procured from the state legislature the organization of the new county of 
Trempealeau, with the location of the county seat at Galesville.  At the 
same time he obtained a charter for a university to be located at that 
place.  The board of trustees was organized in 1855, and the first edifice 
commenced in 1858.  In June, 1854, the village plot of Galesville was laid 
out.  Even through the financial crisis, Judge Gale carried the university 
to success, and had the great joy of seeing the first class graduated in 
July, 1865.  After eleven years as president of the board of trustees and of 
the faculty, he resigned, and left the work in other hands, although he 
never lost his active interest.  In 1863 the institution conferred upon him 
the degree of LL.D., the University of Vermont having paved the way by 
granting him the degree of M.A. in 1857.  As an historical writer, Judge 
Gale took a high rank.  For the Wisconsin State Historical Society, of which 
he was at one time vice-president and later an honorary member, he prepared 
an elaborate paper entitled, "History of the Chippewa Nation of Indians," 
which is included in the published "Collections" of the society.  In 1866 he 
published at Galesville a "Genealogical History of the Gale Family in 
England and in the United States, With an Account of the Tottingham Family, 
of New England, and of the Bogardus, Waldron and Young Families, of New 
York," a volume requiring a large amount of patience and persevering 
investigation.  His last work, to the preparation of which he devoted many 
years, was published in 1867 and was entitled, "The Upper Mississippi, or 
Historical Sketches of the Introduction of Civilization in the Northwest," a 
work which was well received and widely circulated.  Judge Gale's health 
partially failed him in the summer of 1862, and the three following winters 
he spent in the South and West, most of the time in the service of the 
Sanitary and Christian Commissions.  During February and March, 1863, he had 
charge of the United States Sanitary Commission Depot, on Morris Island, 
during the siege of Charleston.  He departed this life with all the 
consolations of the Christian religion, at Galesville, April 1, 1868.  In 
all the relations of life, in which he had been called to take part, Judge 
Gale was always faithful, honest and persevering, with habits of industry 
and close application.  Those who knew him the best esteemed him the most.  
In all respects he was an estimable man, discharging every duty to the best 
of his ability.  He retained his mental faculties to the last, his faith was 
strong, and his last days were full of peace.

December, 1844, Judge Gale married Gertrude Young, born at Schenectady, 
N. Y., in 1810, daughter of George and Anna (Waldron) Young.  She died March 
3, 1902.  In the family there were three children:  George, a leading 
attorney of Galesville; William, a prominent attorney of Winona, who died 
Aug. 13, 1903; and Helen, wife of H. J. Arnold, who is engaged in the drug 
business in Kansas City.

--From the "History of Trempealeau County Wisconsin, 1917," pages 295 - 297.

Link to more history from the Galesville (Beaver Creek) area - 
http://www.rootsweb.com/~witrempe/histories/bcvhistory.htm