Hale was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on November 23, 1797. His parents were Thomas Hale and Alice Little Hale. He was the oldest of ten children in the family. Hale's father was an eighth generation descendant of a Thomas Hale from Hertfordshire, England, who came to Newburyport around 1637. Hale attended Atkinson Academy starting in 1813. He entered Dartmouth College in 1814. For health reasons he had to temporarily drop out and entered instead Dummer Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts. There he was privately tutored by Rev. Abbott. Hale entered Bowdoin College at the sophomore class level in February 1816. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from that college in September 1818. Hale first taught a year at Thornton Academy. He was a member of the Theological Seminary at Andover, Massachusetts, in the fall of 1819. Hale became a teacher at Bowdoin College in 1820. He taught natural philosophy and Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding to the Junior class. His teachings to the sophomore class were in advanced mathematics and logic. Hale received a master's degree in September 1821 and delivered a Latin valedictory oration. While he was a teacher at Bowdoin College, Hale pursued theological studies. He became an ordained preacher in 1822 and preached at the Congregational church in Andover.
Career
In 1822 Robert Hallowell Gardiner offered Hale a position to become the principal and first main instructor of the first vocational trade school in the United States, a new school in Gardiner, Maine. It was a trade school for the education of farmers and agronomists. Hale accepted the position and delivered an address on the opening of the Gardiner Lyceum on January 1, 1823. Hale established this as the first vocational trade school in America through his curriculum. He had twenty students at the beginning. He organized courses into agricultural chemistry, mathematics, natural philosophy, navigation, surveying, and architecture. Hale also had various courses in husbandry in the winter months. Hale became professor of chemistry at Dartmouth College in 1827. He was for many years an instructor in the Philosophy of Natural History which he taught to the senior class. Hale was at Dartmouth College from 1827 through 1835. He was president of Geneva College from 1836 to 1858. Hale experimented with student government. He started preaching in 1828 and preached often at the Episcopal church in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
Family
Hale married Mary Caroline King on April 9, 1823. Their children were:
Personality
Hale as a youth was known to have the characteristics of a quiet friendly pleasant child and being a studious boy fond of books. Rufus Anderson, Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions and Hale's one-time classmate and roommate, writes that their lifetime friendship was founded in similar interests. Anderson says Hale had nearly equal knowledge in all branches of study. He continues in Hale's description of mathematics, languages, and music to be quick and accurate. Anderson says Hale was sociable and willing to strike up a conversation with anyone at any time. Anderson describes Hale as quite religious.
Death and legacy
Hale died July 15, 1863. The various courses in husbandry in the winter he established at the Gardiner Lyceum were followed later by the majority of the agricultural colleges in the United States. Hale conceived the idea of vocational trade schools now seen throughout the United States and the world by his outline of a planned set of technical courses designed for the practical application of science and mathematics to a specific trade.
