The Evanescent George Gale of Galesburg, Michigan
By: Todd Nelson
Tags: History, Michigan, Genealogy, Pioneer, Narcissism

The Evanescent George Gale of Galesburg, Michigan

Photo by Delaney Van on Unsplash

Young and brash from a wealthy family, he lost patience for medical school in Massachusetts. Restless again after being admitted to the bar at 25 in Vermont, he headed west to practice law. The brand new Erie Canal expedited his trip across New York. After reaching Detroit, he crossed the fledgling Michigan Territory on the old Native American footpath called the St. Joseph Trail. Arriving at a bend in the Kalamazoo River near a tallgrass prairie, he settled in 1836. But George L. Gale was more of a prospector and less of a settler. Unlike the Johnny Appleseeds from the 1820s who bought large plots of land from the United States Government only to sell portions to the next wave of pioneers, Gale sought the fame and fortune that surely awaited a man for whom a thriving town was named.

He must have made quite an impression upon those settlers who felled trees to build cabins as early as 1829. Imagine lanky fast-talking Gale, not yet 30 years of age, standing on a crate barking audacious plans for the bustling new city; a curiosity to the sturdy and stoic farmers who judged a man by his boots more than his boisterousness.

A historian in 1869 wrote, “…very suddenly, in the fall of 1836, its peaceful rest was broken by wild dreams of greatness and its waking moments filled with gorgeous imaginings like some rustic sleeper, who has heard, faintly told, a tale of the glories of some far off city. [He] hears in his slumbers the din and bustle, the music and the ear-delighting sounds, sees the splendors and tastes the delights of a great metropolis, till his heart is stirred with a strange joy and his soul filled with wonder and the emotions of a new existence… He is aroused from his entranced slumbers by the voice of a strange man, who announces himself as a magician, to whom is given the power of converting the waste places into precious “corner lots,” the humble cottages into “brownstone fronts,” the little shops into immense manufactories, the highways into thronged avenues of commerce, the river into a stream of gold…”

Without waiting for a response, Gale hired men to start building a mill race, diverting part of Gull Creek to the Kalamazoo River powering a mill that was promised to be built. An earlier pioneer, Hugh Shafter would later recall, “…it is truly characteristic of Gale; he always did things in a rush and on the grand scale. He included in his village plat an area sufficient for a city of 40,000 inhabitants.”

Surrounding Gale in the town meetings were those who first broke ground, turned trails into roads, and built the first bridge over the Kalamazoo River. Any of these men could claim to be founders of the growing village. At an 1837 meeting at Nathaniel Cothren’s house, William Harris proposed to name the place Harrisburg, and Gale proposed Galesburg. After the ballots were counted the honor went to Gale. Suspiciously, there persists a belief that Gale gave Harris $100 to assure the outcome.

He once told the new state’s Governor, “I am engaged in improving at Galesburg what is to constitute the most stupendous water-power on the continent of America.” But when his workers realized he couldn’t pay them, the mill race was never finished. Subsequently, the framing for the mill was floated downriver to someone else who could pay. His law practice was not extensive or lucrative — relying less on preparation and more on his closing arguments. After a few short years, he moved away. Records show he filed for bankruptcy in 1842 with an estimated $100,000 in debt (~$2.7M in today’s dollars). Rumors suggested he went to California to make his fortune in the goldfields.

I’ve found no records of him after this time. In fact, I’ve found no records of him before this time either. I’ve found extensive history on George W. Gale who founded Galesburg, Illinois, and Knox College, but that was not our Galesburg; not our Gale. I uncovered a bit on Judge George Gale, who founded Galesville, Wisconsin. Much is written about George S. Gale, the founder of Gale Manufacturing in nearby Albion, Michigan; again, not our Gale. There’s a Galesville in Maryland (Richard Gale), a Galesburg in North Dakota (Josiah Hallis Gale), and one more Galesburg in Kansas (unknown founder).

Surprisingly, most of those Gales trace their ancestry back to the 1640s — immediately following the Mayflower — to two brothers who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. But not our Gale.

Undeterred by the bluster that was George L. Gale, the real founders set to work and made a town. Names like Gray, Schroder, Shafter, Matthews, and Ransom aren’t found on street signs. These were the families that made real progress — not for fame and fortune but for the next generation. Many were instrumental in founding nearby burgs in nearby townships. Eventually, a steam-powered mill was built on Mill Street, three churches were built on Church Street, and the Michigan Central Railroad came through along Rail Road.

Source: F. W. Beers & Co., 1873

What’s overlooked by the chroniclers of the day was the network of support and the connectedness of those early pioneers. A surprising number arrived after a generation in Vermont and obviously knew each other. Some were brothers, cousins, or in-laws. The first prospectors may have moved away, but only to the next village or county — and still returned to help raise a barn or build a cabin.

Despite the cycles of time and living thousands of miles away, I’m still connected to this place; this is where I grew up. Its history feels like part of my history. Its lessons can still teach me. Its future matters to me. George L. Gale may have been a flash in the pan, but we’re forever connected to his name.