Nathan Hale of Range, New Hampshire, Windsor, and Chelsea, Vermont.

Nathan Hale II was born in Rindge, New Hampshire, on July 1, 1771, the third child of Colonel Nathan and Abigail (Grout) Hale, daughter of Colonel John and Joanna (Boynton) Grout of Lunenburg, MA. Colonel Hale was a founder and a leader in the Village of Rindge, NH. He was a merchant, the first constable in 1768, and the town council president. Nathan Senior served in the Revolutionary War as a captain. On April 20, 1775, he assembled 55 men on the Rindge Common and marched to aid their brethren in Cambridge. He was captured by the British during the Battle of Ticonderoga. He was responsible for the sick and the wounded from the fort and towards Hubbardston. Three days later, during the Battle of Hubbardston, he and the sick and wounded were discovered and taken prisoner by the British on July 7, 1777. His surrender there was the subject of controversy. He was later released on limited parole by the British on the condition that Hale was not allowed to serve in the Army and he had to return to the enemy lines. He returned to Rindge, New Hampshire, on July 20, 1777. Since he was not exchanged, Hale returned to prison on June 14, 1779. Colonel Hale had hoped to be able to exonerate himself after a prisoner exchange. Colonel Nathan Hale died on September 23, 1780, in New Utrecht, Brooklyn, while aboard the British prison hulk moored at New Utrecht, Long Island (now part of Brooklyn). His wife, Abigail, remarried.

It is not definitively known where Nathan II learned to make clocks. One thought is that Nathan served his apprenticeship in Charlestown, New Hampshire, under the instruction of Stephen Hasham. Why Hasham? Nathan's Uncle, Col. Enoch Hale, moved his family from Rindge to Walpole, NH, in 1782. The Colonel knew the colorful Mr. Hasham. Nathan was twenty years old when he returned to Rindge in 1791. That December, Hale first advertises in the Massachusetts Spy that he works in a shop near the meetinghouse in Rindge as a goldsmith and silversmith. This ad also states he has warranted clocks of the best kind and can repair necklaces and buckles. It is also recorded that the ornamental artist Ezra Ames worked for him in Rindge in 1791. Hale advertised again in January of 1792. On August 14, 1793, Nathan married Eunice Raymond (b. August 28, 1778, died November 27, 1794) of Winchendon, MA, in Rindge. Nathan moved from Rindge to Windsor, Vermont 1797. At this time, Windsor, Vermont, was the largest town in the eastern half of the State, with a population above 2,200 persons. In June of 1796, Nathan advertises in the Vermont Journal that he is a clockmaker working in Windsor, Vermont. In 1799, he was married a second time to Ruth Tyler. In 1800, he worked as a merchant in a business located on the "Street." Soon after, he was joined by his brother Harry. The firm was called N. & H. Hale. Soon they opened a second store in the West Parish of Windsor, which Harry ran. On February 2, 1806, Nathan married Sarah Caldwell of Barre, MA. In 1807, Nathan and soon after Harry moved approximately 50 miles north to the town of Chelsea, Vermont, and opened another store. Their business renewed as merchants and millers under the old firm name. About this time, the cabinetmaker Julius Barnard moved to town and purchased a share in a new brick building from Nathan Hale. Julius advertised that he was making tall clock cases. In 1823, Jeremiah Dewey, a clockmaker, moved to town. Nathan was eager to have Phineus Bailey take over his shop and his tools. Nathan retired from N. & H. Hale. Hale became an innkeeper and tavern keeper. He owned a grist mill and accumulated considerable property. Although he was extremely sensitive to his profound deafness, he was fairly active in the community: He was a Captain in the Militia, and after the original contractor for the Chelsea Congregational Church died, the Hales and a Rufus Lathrop finished the building, taking their pay from the sale of pews. The church was dedicated in 1813. Nathan died on January 9, 1849, in Chelsea, VT.