Edward Earle b. in England – Founder of the Secaucus New Jersey Branch
Wikitree Profile: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Earle-18
The first attempt at a history of the Secaucus branch founded by Edward Earle was a paper prepared in 1876 at the suggestion of Mr. Abraham Lent Earle, of New York City, by Abraham C. Merritt, a lawyer of New York, who was born at the Island of Secaucus, and whose mother was a descendant of Edward Earle, 3rd. The manuscript, by one who was close to original sources of information, is of great interest, although it only claims to be an “imperfect sketch of the genealogy of one branch of the Earle family,” and contains some very obvious errors.
The next attempt at documenting the Secaucus Earle line was undertaken by Rev. Issac Newton Earle. His Book is Titled:
HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE EARLES OF SECAUCUS
With an Account of Other ENGLISH AND AMERICAN BRANCHES
His book does not purport to be a complete history of the Earles of England and America. His purpose was to give some account of the branch of the family which, in the person of its founder, Edward Earle, Senior, settled in 1676 on the Island of Secaucus, Bergen County, N. J., known as the New Jersey Earles.
From the Author Rev. Issac Newton Earle
The founder of the Secaucus branch of the family in America was Edward Earle Senior, who was born in England in 1628. The date usually given by early investigators was 1630, but this was mere conjecture. There is a record at the Bergen Reformed Church: “Edward Earle, old man, buried in Island Svchakes, Dec. 15, 1711, in his 84th year.” This is unquestionably Edward, Senior, who attended the Reformed Dutch Church at Bergen. This makes 1628 the year of his birth.
Of his English antecedents, we have no definite information. There is a tradition among some of the Secaucus Earles that he belonged to the Lancashire branch, and that he sailed from Liverpool, where he had relatives. But there were no members of the Lancashire family living in Liverpool at the time when he is said to have sailed.
Correspondence with Sir Henry Earle, Bart., the present head of that family, has elicited the fact that there was no Edward in that line who could have been identical with Edward, Sr. All statements connecting him with John, of Warrington are incorrect. The statement that the Lancashire family was derived from the Lincolnshire branch is also without foundation. No connection is known to exist. We grow weary of those who manufacture history, instead of simply recording it.
