I was the 4th child of George Henry and Elsie Kartchner Gale, born in Franklin, AZ. My mother named me for Jesse N. Smith, who was her Stake President when she was a small girl up at Smith Lake.
At age three, I was following the team and scraper on some work near our house. The hired man pulled the handle back on the scraper and cut me in the mouth, with my tongue out. Almost cut my tongue off. And to top it off, I had the whooping cough at the same time. Every time I would cough, it would bleed. Thought I would bleed to death.
While still living at Franklin, at about age four, I tried to go with my brothers, Marlin and Hugh, across the railroad track to play with the neighbors. My brothers ran too fast for me and went off and left me. I was on top of the tracks playing with the rocks. I got sleepy so laid down on the tracks and went to sleep. Soon a big steam engine came steaming towards me. The engineer of the train knew us Gale Kids. He used to blow the whistle and throw me what was left of his lunch each day and I'd wave and rush to get it and find half an orange or sandwich or piece of cake or something good. That day, he saw something on the tracks. It was unusual. He applied all the brakes he had and stopped within inches of my body. He picked me up and carried me to a fence and into the arms of my anxious mother.
We sold our home in Franklin when I was about five years old, moving to the White Mountains. Once in Show Low, Clyde and I were looking at Hugh's violin. He wanted to play with it and I said "no". But after I left, he picked it up and broke the "E" string. When we all came home that evening, Hugh announced that the fiddle was broke. Dad gathered us to see who was guilty. Clyde spoke up and said, ‘Jess done it, I saw Him." Dad sent me to bed without supper. Thirty years later, Clyde confessed to me that he lied on me and that he was sorry.
Grandma Kartchner would come from Snowflake to put up fruit and pick wild grapes. Once when we were all out "groping", shouting and saying how big they were and how delicious and sweet they were, suddenly, in the bush there was a huge rattlesnake-buzzing. Hugh got rocks and pelted it and killed it. He held it up by the tail and it was as long as he was tall.
When I was 8 years old, it was time to be baptized and my father was away on the freight road. Mother was expecting baby Jim. So my good old standby, Etta, took me by the hand and we went to the Church and met with others. We went down to the Show Low Creek and were baptized in cool April water. I didn't mind because my Mom had told me I would feel good because all my sins would be washed away. So, in my wet bib overalls, and very happy, I sloshed all the way home, with my good older sister, Etta.

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I was the 4th child of George Henry and Elsie Kartchner Gale, born in Franklin, AZ. My mother named me for Jesse N. Smith, who was her Stake President when she was a small girl up at Smith Lake.
At age three, I was following the team and scraper on some work near our house. The hired man pulled the handle back on the scraper and cut me in the mouth, with my tongue out. Almost cut my tongue off. And to top it off, I had the whooping cough at the same time. Every time I would cough, it would bleed. Thought I would bleed to death.
While still living at Franklin, at about age four, I tried to go with my brothers, Marlin and Hugh, across the railroad track to play with the neighbors. My brothers ran too fast for me and went off and left me. I was on top of the tracks playing with the rocks. I got sleepy so laid down on the tracks and went to sleep. Soon a big steam engine came steaming towards me. The engineer of the train knew us Gale Kids. He used to blow the whistle and throw me what was left of his lunch each day and I'd wave and rush to get it and find half an orange or sandwich or piece of cake or something good. That day, he saw something on the tracks. It was unusual. He applied all the brakes he had and stopped within inches of my body. He picked me up and carried me to a fence and into the arms of my anxious mother.
We sold our home in Franklin when I was about five years old, moving to the White Mountains. Once in Show Low, Clyde and I were looking at Hugh's violin. He wanted to play with it and I said "no". But after I left, he picked it up and broke the "E" string. When we all came home that evening, Hugh announced that the fiddle was broke. Dad gathered us to see who was guilty. Clyde spoke up and said, ‘Jess done it, I saw Him." Dad sent me to bed without supper. Thirty years later, Clyde confessed to me that he lied on me and that he was sorry.
Grandma Kartchner would come from Snowflake to put up fruit and pick wild grapes. Once when we were all out "groping", shouting and saying how big they were and how delicious and sweet they were, suddenly, in the bush there was a huge rattlesnake-buzzing. Hugh got rocks and pelted it and killed it. He held it up by the tail and it was as long as he was tall.
When I was 8 years old, it was time to be baptized and my father was away on the freight road. Mother was expecting baby Jim. So my good old standby, Etta, took me by the hand and we went to the Church and met with others. We went down to the Show Low Creek and were baptized in cool April water. I didn't mind because my Mom had told me I would feel good because all my sins would be washed away. So, in my wet bib overalls, and very happy, I sloshed all the way home, with my good older sister, Etta.

View Click on this link to continue reading the full story from Jesse Gales personal history..