THE FAMILY OF EARLY Which settled upon the Eastern Shore of Virginia AND ITS CONNECTION WITH OTHER FAMILIES BY R.H. EARLY LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 1920 6 91 COPYRIGHT 1920 BY RUTH H. EARLY PRESS OF BROWN-MORRISON CO. LYNCHBURG, VA. CADET SAMUEL HENRY EARLY JR., from a portrait. DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF CAPTAIN SAMUEL. HENRY EARLY. "A lively desire of knowing and recording our ancestors so gen­ erally prevails that it must depend on the influence of some common principle in the minds of men. We seem to have lived in the persons of our forefathers; it is the labor and reward of vanity to extend the term of this ideal longevity. Our imagination is always active to enlarge the narrow circle in which nature has confined us. We fill up the silent vacancy that precedes our birth by associating ourselves to the authors of our existence." EDWARD GIBBON. PREFACE The custom of recording genealogies is many centuries old, as witness the generations chronicled in the Scriptures, showing its importance in the estimation of the ancients. Later nations have also provided for the preservation of family history. There are at the public record office in Chancery Lane, London, twenty-six miles of shelves containing millions upon mil­ lions of documents methodically arranged, so that if you have the necessary facts to work on, you may trace family history generation by generation. Among the people who have observed the custom ( which has a bearing upon nation and individual) are the Irish, who incorporated it in their system of government. In the preface to the 2nd series of his "Irish Pedigrees," O'Hart says that to the end of the 16th century, or as long as the Tanist Law remained in force in Ireland, collections of authentic pedigrees existed; in one or other of which was carefully registered the birth of every member of a sept, poor as well as rich, and by which was determined the portion of land to he allotted for the sustenance of each head of a family and of those dependant on him. These records disappeared when, by the conquest of Ireland, they ceased to be useful for their own special purpose-but before they dis­ appeared they formed the basis of genealogical collections of several Irish historians. Then a time came when it was of im­ portance for the conquerors to know something of the native families. Out of this necessity arose a new value for all genealogical records, and the attention of English officials at the close of the 16th century was directed towards the recovery of such documents. In his "Miscellany of the Celtic Society," O'Donovan says, "Those of the lowest rank among a great tribe traced and retained the whole line of their descent with the same care which, in other nations, was peculiar to the rich and great; for it was from his own genealogy, each man, poor as well as rich, held the cantred in which he was born, the soil of which was occupied by one family or clan, and 6 THE FAMILY OF EARLY in which no one lawfully possessed any portion of the soil if he was not of the same race as the chief." "In Ireland and Scotland each family had its own chief under Tanist law. These chiefs constituted the ancient nobility in sister counties down to the reign of James I." The history given in the following pages is confined to the family of Early, which settled in the tidewater section of Virginia, and having acquired landed interests remained in the state for two or more generations, moving, as time passed, towards the hill country. The founder of this family was presumably John Early, first recorded in Virginia annals 1661. To materials collected from American records, I have undertaken to add what data, regarding earlier history there was to be ex• tracted from authentic Irish writings, copied during a visit to Dublin for the purpose of learning the basis for the claim, tradi­ tionally made, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. · I have not attempted the difficult task of tracing actual connection with the family in the mother country, in order to discover the exact stem from which the venturous branch started forth to secure root in the new world. The Irish works to which I had access were: 1. "Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland," "A celebrated work of Irish history from the earliest period till the year 1676, compiled from ancient Gaelic Mss. in 1631, at the Franciscan mona·stery in the town of Donegal, by Michael O'Clery, a monk of the order, and by Peregrine and Conary O'Clery and Peregrine O'Duigenan, learned antiquaries. From their high character these annals have, since their publication, served as the basis of all Irish historical writings." Translated by John O'Donovan, barrister-at-law, 1856. Dublin. In this there is a genealogical Index concerning the three Collas from 322 to 1536, which is amplified in the history; they were the· ancestors of various families in Ireland and Scotland. 2. "Irish Pedigrees" begins with what the author calls the "stem" of each pedigree. From the stem, branch many other families, and to the head of each is attached a number, which determines the order of precedence assigned. Under the "stem" O'Brassil (West) comes Fiachra Casan No. 86, son of Colla-da-Crioch and his descendants down to Dallgan No. 96, who had a brother Maolmocheirghe, angli- THE FAMILY OF EARLY 7 cised Mulmoghery, Early and Eardley-eleven generations from Colla-da-Crioch. 3. "Families in Ireland from the 11th to end of the 16th century," by Philip McDermott, M. D. p. 388. "O'Mulmoghery family of Doneghal County. Maolmocheirghe, O'Maolmocheirghe, O'Mul­ moghery, O'Maoilmocheirghe, or Ua Maolmocheirghe. This name is still common in the county of Donegal, Ireland, but anglicised Early because the Celtic signifies 'early rising.' Maol signifies the 'chief of the early rising.' The word 'maol,' when not prefixed to the name of a saint, signifies a king or chief, as in the present instance." These volumes were all issued in the 19th century. From these three sources we discover that there existed a family which bore the name of Maolmocheirghe and dwelt in North Ireland many generations ago; but which, from the 16th century, has been known by the derivative name of Early. It remains to designate the descendants of later generations who came to America, and, made their abode in Virginia. The destruction of court and family records, removal of families to distant and unknown sections, the difficulty of obtaining response from many to whom enquiries have been sent and other obstructive causes, have retarded the publication of this family data, collected from various sources. I do not claim for it entire accuracy of detail, for it has not been possible always to confirm-yet on the other hand to disprove-much information which has been given by members of the connection. My aim is to preserve the knowledge which I have secured and incidentally to furnish clues to those who may desire to obtain lost traces of their branch of the family. The absence of record in various lines is not intended to convey the impression that none exists but that (if extant) I have not been able to obtain it. One of the greatest deterrents to investigation has been the re­ currence of the same given name often perpetuated through genera­ tions of large families. In such instances accuracy of date alone may keep one from becoming confused and misled. Even then the not unusual habit of one brother duplicating the name another chose for his children, may halt investigation indefinitely. It has happened that a certain name was a favorite one which became repeated in successive generations-without a distinguishing middle name or the latter omitted. The investigator, in such instance, may 8 THE FAMILY OF EARLY start quite confidently upon the family search through a first genera­ tion of 'Mary and John'-pursue the genealogical lines to a second generation but gets entangled, lost, in the maze of Marys and Johns discovered increasingly in the extension of lines. To this comes added confusion from the manner of spelling surnames, which seems to have been arbitrarily regulated by the conception of the writer, who leaving slight resemblance to the original, forces a pursuit of the name most similar. There is thus created an ignis fatuus in record hunting and there may come into play more than one family line to be followed, perhaps a final turn present an ap­ pearance of a distinctly different one. These difficulties must largely account for the inaccuracies so often discovered in genealogical publications, the correction of which has to rest with the members interested in setting history right who are able to correct it. In all of the earliest records I found the name Early spelt in such a variety of ways that only its associa­ tion gave me confidence in its being the one sought. It was written Earle, Early, Earley, Yerle, Yearly, Yerley indifferently through all order, deed and will books, then the similar names of Ely and Ealy would add to the uncertainty. I could not discover whether this was merely another specimen of eccentric spelling or if in­ tended for families bearing those names. We learn of a second founder of the name who came to America from North Ireland but landed upon the Jersey coast and estab­ lished his family in Union County, New Jersey. This was William Early, who arrived in the New World about 1742.