Gold believed that
agricultural education was key to improving the quantity and quality of crops for Connecticut's struggling farmers. In 1845, Gold and his father founded the
Cream Hill Agricultural School on their family farm. The school remained in operation until Samuel Gold's death in 1869. The all-boys school never had more than 24 students at a time, but it graduated a total of 272, some as far afield as
Louisiana,
Michigan,
Germany, and
Peru. Gold and his father were the only full-time instructors, teaching subjects from practical farming and military drill to foreign languages and piano. Gold was a charter member of the Connecticut State Agricultural Society in 1852. He and his wife were charter members of the Cornwall Grange and held most meetings in their home. Gold edited
The Homestead, an agricultural paper, from 1856 to 1861. In 1864, he obtained from the
Connecticut General Assembly a charter for the Connecticut Soldiers' Orphans' Home in
Mansfield. He served as secretary of the corporation until 1874. The college was the culmination of Gold's use of "progressive means such as education, scientific methods and state organization to preserve the traditional values and social position of the Connecticut farmer." Gold retired as secretary of the Board of Agriculture and trustee of the Connecticut Agricultural College in 1901, at the age of 83. In retirement, he continued to give speeches, publish essays, and edit the
Handbook of Connecticut Agriculture and the
Descriptive Catalogue of Farms in Connecticut for Sale. He wrote an unfinished history of Connecticut Agricultural College. == Personal life ==