Earle Sons Coming to America
With each branch of the American Earle lines, we may not be able to show the precise connection back to the English branches or prove that there was any connection at all, but this is not to be wondered at. The genealogy is not given in full, the records were not always carefully kept, and sometimes not kept at all. As a rule, little attention was paid to younger sons. The estate descended to the eldest son, and the younger sons were obliged to go out and make their own fortunes.
So there must have been many side branches, starting from the main stem, through younger sons, and reaching into all parts of England.
It was precisely in this way that the Devonshire branch began. One of the younger sons of the “White Knight” (just which one is not known ) was the grandfather of John Erle of Ashburton. It is known that the Earles of Winchester, Southampton, and Nottinghamshire, had their origin in the same way. It is almost certain that the Lincolnshire branch sprang from Somerset. When it is remembered that Lincoln touches York and that York touches Lancaster, it is easy to believe that there was some relationship between the Earles of those counties.
These are the known American branches:
Ralph Earle – Rhode Island Branch
Ralph Earl (b. 1609) arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634 and moved to Rhode Island by 1639. His children migrated throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York.
Robert Earle – Boston Massachusetts Branch
Robert Earle married Hannah Rust in 1664 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Rust family came to the Boston Colony in 1634 / 1635. Robert’s birth year is unknown but would be approximated as 1640 or 1641, based on his wife’s date of birth. Robert’s place of birth was possibly in Massachusetts, but he could have been born in England. Robert died on 18 October 1698 in Boston, Massachusetts. Robert was appointed the Keeper of the prison in Boston. They had children in the Boston area.
William Earle – Boxford Massachusetts Branch
There was a small connection of Earls or Earles that had their family seat at Boxford, Mass., and which we have therefore designated as the Massachusetts branch. Dr. Pliny Earle felt quite sure that they were related to the Earles of Rhode Island, but the relationship was not made out.
The founder of this family in America was William Earl, who came from England before 1719 and settled at Boxford, Mass. His name is variously spelled on the Boxford records and tax lists, oyls (small initial), ills, eiles, Ils and oils. His descendants of the present day, as represented by Mr. Frederick C. Earle of the firm of Seymour & Earle, New Haven, Conn., spell the name with a final “e”.
Edward Earle – Secaucus, New Jersey Branch
Edward Earl Sr. (b. 1640) first arrived in Maryland, where he purchased land in 1665. He married Hannah in 1667 in Maryland. Edward, Junior, their son, an only child, so far as we know, was born in Maryland about 1667-8. He moved to the New Jersey area in 1673 and purchased the island of Secaucus in the province of New Jersey.
Robert Earle – Bergen County, New Jersey Branch
There were Earles in Bergen County, N. J., before the arrival of Edward of Secaucus. The book “History of Bergen and Passaic Counties” states that there was a “Robert Earle, one of the pioneer settlers of Bergen County, N. J., located in Ridgefield, purchasing a large tract of land, beginning at North River, from thence to the Hackensack, running thence to Bull’s Ferry, to Five Corners (or Bergen), neat Fort Lee, as early as 1650. He gave land to white inhabitants and formed a settlement. The only descendant of whom there is any knowledge was Robert, who married Mary Smith and is located in Ridgefield Township. What became of the others is unknown, only that they moved out of Hudson County.”
John Earle – Northumberland County Virginia
There were Earles in Virginia as early as 1622 when the colony was controlled by the Virginia Company of London, directed, among others, by Sir Walter Earle and his brother, Mr. Christopher Earle. A Nathaniel Earle was killed during the Indian uprisings in Virginia in 1622.
The Virginia Company of London records show the names of Yeardley and Earley or Early are the same. The arms of Earley of England are nearly the same as those of the surname Earle.
Although there were earlier Earle men in the area, John Earle, who was in America as early as 1649, arrived in Maryland then settled in Northumberland County Virginia. He is considered the founder of the family in Virginia.
Thomas Earle – Talbot County Maryland Branch
Thomas Earle is mentioned in the records of the Land Office of Maryland:
“Patrick Mellikin demands land for the transportation of Thomas Earle in 1663.” In the Register of St. Peter’s Parish, Talbot County, Md., is the death of a Thomas Earle in 1704, and also the baptism of one son and two daughters of Thomas and Catherine Earle. This may have been the same Thomas who was transported in 1663.
James Earle – Talbot County Maryland Branch
The founder of the Maryland family of Earles was James Earle (b. 1631, probably in Ireland), the immigrant who, with his wife Rhodah, settled on the Eastern Shore of Maryland on November 15th, 1683.
In his will, recorded in Easton, he describes himself as “James Earle, late of Ireland,” in the record left by his grandson, he is said to have been born “about ten years before the rebellion of Ireland.” This would seem to imply his birth in “The Emerald Isle.”
Gamaliel Earle – Granville County, NC Branch
Gamaliel Earles birth is estimated to be between 1710 to 1720. There is no known birth record. His birthplace may be in Virginia or England. The exact date and location are not known.
Gamaliel married Martha Martin but the date and location are unknown. There is no known marriage record.
Gamaliel and Martha were living in Fishing District of Granville County, NC when their daughter Elizabeth was born in 1749.
