1885 History of Steuben County, IN page 651, and
The History of Northeast Indiana 1920 Vol. I page
264
Thomas Gale (deceased) was one of the founders of
the Town of Angola and one of its most prominent citizens for thirty years.
Thomas Gale and Sarah Goldsmith were united in marriage in Otsego County,
New York, September 12, 1820. From this union came three children,
all girls. Elizabeth, married Dr. M. F. Morse; Eugenia L. married
Thomas B. Morse and the youngest,
Louisa, married A.W. Hendry. Mrs. Gale died February 15, 1830.
Being mindful of the fact that it is not good for man to be alone, Mr.
Gale, on November 16, of the same year, was married at Bucyrus, Ohio, to
Martha Cary, who became his faithful companion for more than a third of
a century. Miss Cary was born in Morris County, New Jersey, May 24,
1793, and emigrated to Ohio in 1826. Closely following her marriage
to Judge Gale, they turned their faces toward the setting sun, when, arriving
in Indiana, they settled in Mongoquinong Prairie, LaGrange County.
Judge Gale has the credit of being one of the founders of the county seat
of Steuben County, for he and Cornelius Gilmore laid out the original plat
of Angola; and through the efforts of the Judge, the county seat was located
soon after the organization of the county, June, 1837. Judge Gale
died January 23, 1865, while his widow died January 11, 1881, after she
had seen prosperity crown Angola. Mrs. Gale was reared a Quaker,
but later joined the Presbyterian Church. They resided at Lima, county
seat of LaGrange County about three years, and during the Black Hawk War,
during which period the Indians killed the unfortunate inmates and burned
the house of a near neighbor of Mr. and Mrs. Gale. Great excitement
prevailed throughout the neighborhood. In the fall of 1836, Judge
Gale and wife removed to Angola, but then it was but a wilderness.
he served in the Indiana legislature 1836-37, and served as Associate Judge
one term in 1838.