In all of the federal, state and territorial censuses from 1860 on, Hale was listed as a farmer (or agriculturist or horticulturist).
He also helped establish the Puget Sound Wesleyan Institute, the first school of higher education in the state.
In 1862, Hale was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to the post of Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Washington and Idaho Territories.
Waitstill died December 4, 1870, and had been bedridden during the last six years of her life, having injured her spine in a fall.
Pamela was a school teacher, a businesswoman and a founding member of the Woman's Club of Olympia.