Ralph Earle (1606 - bef. 1678)

Born 9 Feb 1606 in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Joan (Savage) Earle — married 29 Jun 1631 in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England

Descendants

Died before 14 Jan 1678 before age 71 in Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message] and Todd Gross [send private message]

Ralph Earle migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 101) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

This profile is part of the Erleigh Name Study.

Pliny Earle a direct decendent of Ralph Earle compiled a comprehensive book on the Earle family geneaolgy that was published in 1888 called "RALPH EARLE AND HIS DESCENDANTS". The names of more than four thousand of the descendants of Ralph and Joan Earle are mentioned in this collection.

In the book the genealogy of Ralph Earle begins with Ralph(1) b. 1606 the Immigrant. Ralph is the beginning of the US branch and therefore in Pliny's book he is labeled as Ralph(1) or 1st Generation.

Pliny Earle speculates on the English origins of the family and specifically where Ralph came from. At that time, in 1888, he did not know who the father of Ralph(1) the Immigrant was. Pliny stated that there was a "family tradition" in favor of the probability that Ralph Earle came from Exeter.

Ralph & Joan Earle came to Boston in 1634. ^[1] They may have come with a group of puritans led by Rev John Cotton (1585-1652) (a Minister) with William Hutchinson (bef.1586-abt.1641) and Ann (Marbury) Hutchinson (1591-1643) who arrived in 1634 on the ship ‘Griffen”. The ship brought 200 passengers but the passenger list is not complete so we do not know for sure whether he was on this ship or another.

Whether Ralph & Joan Earle came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony on the same ship as William and Ann Hutchinson or not, we do know that in 1638 they aligned themselves with Anne Hutchinson who in that year was "bannished" by the puritan leadership from the colony while John Winthrop (1587-1649) was the governor. The Puritan ministers in the colony had labeled Hutchinson a modern "Jezebel" who was infecting women with perverse and "abominable" ideas regarding their dignity and rights. Her particular "heresy" was to maintain that it was a blessing and not a curse to be a woman.

In March 1638, the First Church in Boston conducted a religious trial. They accused Anne Hutchinson of blasphemy. They also accused her of "lewd and lascivious conduct" for having men and women in her house at the same time during her Sunday bible study meetings. This religious court found her guilty and voted to excommunicate her from the Puritan Church for dissenting from Puritan orthodoxy. Anne Hutchinson and her family were excommunicated.

Unwilling to endure this indignity, a large portion of supporters of Anne Hutchinson, under the leadership of John Clarke and William Coddington (abt.1602-1678), prepared to leave the colony and settle elsewhere. Nineteen men, including William Hutchinson, met on March 7, 1638 at the home of the wealthy Boston merchant William Coddington. (Ralph Earle evidently was not in attendance at this meeting as his name does not appear on the 1638 compact that the men all signed). A year later in 1639 after relocating to Pocasset (now Portsmouth) another compact was signed by 29 men and Ralph Earle’s name is on the second document See: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Signers_of_the_2nd_Portsmouth_Compact. The men formed themselves into a "Bodie Politick" and elected Coddington their judge.

Whether Ralph & Joan agreed or sided with Anne Hutchinson or not, they made a choice to leave the colony with her and her group of supporters and settle in Rhode Island. Anne and William Hutchinson and William Coddington founded Portsmouth in 1638 as a haven for Antinomians (whose beliefs resembled those of Quakerism). Ralph Earle was one of the petitioners.

Ralph Earle’s (b. 1606) son William (b. 1634) married Mary Walker who was the daughter of William Hutchinson’s sister, Katherina (Hutchinson) Walker (abt.1615-bef.1654).

Biographical Sketch

Quoted From the Book: RALPH EARLE AND HIS DESCENDANTS ^[2]

Of the place of birth, the residence previous to emigration from England, or the ancestry of Ralph, we have no positive history. There is a tradition among his descendants that he came from Exeter, in the year 1634, (we now know that he was born in Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire). There is little doubt that he was married in England, and that his wife came with him, but her maiden surname and the dates of her birth and death are unknown (we now know that her maiden name was Savage). Her Christian name is spelled in the old records in three different ways, viz. : lone, Jone and Joan ; we have adopted the last orthography as now the most common.

The children of Ralph and Joan Earle were :

2-1. Ralph Earle ; m. Dorcas Sprague.

3-2. William Earle ; m. 1st, Mary Walker; 2d, Prudence .

4-3. Mary Earle ; m. William Cory.

5-4. Martha Earle ; m. William Wood.

6-5. Sarah Earle ; m. Thomas Cornell.

Ralph arrived in 1634 at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England. He then settled in Portsmouth and later Newport, Rhode Island.^[3]

The earliest record of Ralph Earle in New England is on 1 October 1638 when he was one of 58 persons admitted as inhabitants to the "Island now called Aqueedneck. He signed his name on the "second Portsmouth Compact" on 30 April 1639.^[4]

Ralph was buried 1678 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island.^[5] Note that Vol. 67 of NYGBR is not publicly available. Austin's "Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island" states that his will was recorded in court on 14 Jan 1678 so he was deceased by this date.^[6]

Birth

Ralphe Earle, son of Raulphe & Margaret (Browne) Earll, was baptized 9 Feb 1606 at St. Michael's Church in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.^[5]

Baptized: 9 February 1606 in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.^[5][7]

Marriage and Children

Ralphe Earle and Joan Savage were married on 29 June 1631 at St. Michael's Church in Bishop's Stortford.^[5][8]

Married: Joan Savage on 29 June 1631 at Saint Michaels parish in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.^[9][10]

Children of Ralph Earle and his wife Joan were named in his will dated 1673:

1. Ralphe Earle. Baptized on 22 April 1632 at St. Michael's in Bishop's Stortford.^[11] He married Dorcas Sprague.^[5]
2. William Earle. Baptized on 11 May 1634 at St. Michael's in Bishop's Stortford.^[12] He married (1) Mary Walker; m. (2) Prudence ____ .^[5]
3. Mary born in New England; m. William Cory^[5]
4. Martha Earle ; m. William Wood, named in father's will.
5. Sarah born in New England; m. Thomas Cornell.^[5]

Death

'Before 14 Jan 1678, likely at Portsmouth where he wrote his will.^[6] This profile originally stated a death location of Dartmouth, Massachusetts in the data field; his son Ralph moved to that location but there is no indication that Ralph Sr. lived there.

Will: of Ralph Earle, of Portsmouth, on Rhoad Island

Dated 19 November 1673.

"The last will and testiment of Ralph Earle, of Portsmouth, on Rhoad Island, being in perfect memory, being sencible of man's mortalitie and for the avoiding of futur controversies amongst my Relations doe order and dispose of my Estate as followeth :—first I doe order, substitute and apointe Jone my wife my whole and sole Executrix to Receive and pay all whatsoever is due Either to or from mee and that which Remains of my Estate shall bee and Remaine in the hand and possession of my said wife during her naturall life and att her deceas to be disposed and divided in maner and forme following, namely, my will is that after and upon the decease of my said wife that all my land and housing, with the apurtinenc thereto belonging, shall be and Remaine to my Eldest sonn, Ralph Earle, and to Ralph Earle, the sonn of my sonn William Earle, to be Equally divided into three parts, my sonn Ralph to have two parts thereof and my said Grandsonn one, to be to them, there heirs and Asigns a possesion and Estate forever: and further my will is that all my moveable Estate shall, at the decease of my said wife, be Equally divided into five parts, and that my sonn Ralph Earle shall have two parts thereof, he paying, or causing to be paid, the sum of one shilling to my son William Earle, as his portion of my Estate, and the other three parts thereof I doe give and bequeath to my three daughters, that is to say, Mary the wife of William Cory, Martha the wife of William Wood, and Sarah, widow to the late deceased Thomas Cornell, to Each of them an Equall share : and for the dividing and disposing wherof, as an overseer, I doe order and appoint my friend and neighbor John Tripp the Elder to take care to see this my will performed as abovesaid; and that this is my will and testament, to be performed to all true intents, witness my hand and seal, this nienteenth day of november, in the year one Thousand six hundred Seventy and Three."
" Witnes Thomas Havens."^[13]

Notes and Records

Colony Records

• The earliest trace of Ralph hitherto discovered, is in the records of Newport, R. I. His name is there found under date of "first of eighth month" (October), 1638, in a list with fifty-eight others, arranged as "A catalogue of such persons who, by the Generall consent of the company, were admitted to the Inhabytants of the Island now called Aqueedneck, having submitted themselves to the Government that is, or shall be, established according to the word of God therein." ^[14]
• "April ye 30th, 1639. We, whose names are under [written, doe acknowledge*] ourselves the legell subjects of [his majestie] King Charles, and in his name [doe hereby binde] ourzelves into a civill body politicke, unto, his lawes according to matters of justice." This declaration was signed by twenty-nine men including Ralph Earle.^[14]
• January 7, 1640, Ralph was complained against for felling timber, contrary to the town's order. He and his co-partner, Mr. Willbore, "shall serve the town with good sufficient stuff, viz : well sawn boards at eight shillings the hundred, and half inch boards at seven shillings, to be delivered at the pit by the waterside."^[14]
• 1655 List of Freemen Portsmouth RICR p. 300
• May 25, 1655, he was appointed by the Court of Commissioners to keep a house of entertainment. A convenient sign was to be set out at the most "perspicuous" place, to give notice to strangers.^[14]
• August 10, 1667, he joined a " troope of horse," which had been ordered to be raised, and signed, with eighteen others, a paper in which they "approve of the choyce of our Captaine (Peleg N. Sanford) and Lieftenant (John Almy) to the full." He was afterward captain of the troop.^[15]
• June 7, 1671, in the General Assembly, Ralph "Earll" and eleven others, of Portsmouth, and a number of residents of Newport, were appointed as a special court, to sit on the 15th of the same month, to try "two Indians now imprisoned upon criminall charge."^[15]

Portsmouth Town Records

• August 26, 1647, it is stated that he was "chosen to keep an Inn to sell beer and wine, and to entertain strangers";^[16]
• June 2, 1649, he was "chosen Treasurer for this year next insuing, and also overseer of the poor.^[17]
• 29th of April, 1650, Ralph and five others were chosen "for the committee for the General Assembly at Newport in May next."^[18]
• 12th of November, 1650, it was "voated & granted that Ralph Erl's house wherein he now dwelleth be recorded & Inn, in ye room of ye former vote that he was an Innkeeper"^[19]
• 3d of June, 1651, he was again elected town treasurer.^[20]
• August 25, 1651, there is a record of an agreement of division of fence between Ralph Earle and John Tripp.^[21]
• 19th of January, 1651 [1651/2], he and three others were chosen "to proportion every man's farm," &c, for the purpose of assessing a tax for the support of a poor man.^[22]
• 21 Aug 1654. Ralph Earle and John Anthony were ordered to keep a house of entertainment for strangers.^[23]
• 21 Aug 1654, he and another man were chosen as a town's committee to "oversee the work of the Prison."^[24]
• May 5, 1655, the "Jurymen chosen for the Generall Court of Tryals to be held at Providence," were John Sandford, Ralph Earle and Francis Brayton.^[25]
• March 2, 1658, five men were chosen "to examine and audit Ralph Earll's accompts of what the towne is indebted unto him, and what they shall find the towne to be in his debt shall be payd to the sayd Earll by the towne Treasurer."^[26]
• 1669 Grand Jury.^[27]

Land Records^[13]

• March 21, 1640, Ralph conveyed to William Baulstone "parcells of upland and meadow."
• 21st of May, 1651, Ralph conveyed a tenement and eight acres of land to Nicholas and Joan Harte; on the 24th of June, 1652, he sold to William Arnold of Providence, land formerly owned by Francis Weston's wife Margaret, near "Pawtuxet Falls"; on February 19, 1653, he quit claimed to Thomas Lawton, and on December 13, 1653, he conveyed twenty acres to William Cadman.
• 5th of April, 1655, he conveyed to his son William eighteen acres of land on the northern extremity of the island, at Bristol Ferry. It is traditional that he owned the ferry, but this has not been confirmed by any discovered records.
• November 24, 1656, he conveyed land to Daniel Grinnell, Ralph, Jr., signing the deed as witness ; and on the 5th of January, 1658, he conveyed forty acres to Jeremiah Willis.
• "Ralph claimed the lands of the Dutch House of Good Hope, now Hartford, Connecticut, and commenced a lawsuit therefor "against Richard Lord and James Richards of Hartford, possessors of the Dutch land, about 1667. Earl affirmed that he purchased the land of Underhill, in August, 1653, and paid him twenty pounds sterling for it; but Underhill protested against Earl's claim." " It is not improbable," continues the article from which we quote, " that there was some foundation for this claim. There are many papers upon the subject in the archives of Connecticut."

DNA Research Notes

A known decendent in this line has taken a yDNA test with Familytree DNA. His Haplogroup is R1b.

Male YDNA Test Needed

Many Earle / Earl decendents have pondered and speculated about whether the English and American Earle Surname Families are related.

American Line Edward Earle of New Jersey: Several Male Y-DNA tests have been completed with known decendents of Edward Earle Sr. (1628-1711) of Secaucus New Jersey. The major Y-DNA Haplogroup for the Edward Earle (New Jersey) line is R1a.

American Line Ralph Earle of Massachusetts / Rhode Island: We know of one individual that has a known decent in the Ralph Earle line and he is in the haplogroup R1b.

This means that Ralph Earle and Edward Earle were not biologically related.

We are now looking for additional males with a known direct lineage to Ralph Earle of Rhode Island/Massachusetts https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Earle-82 who have already taken a Y-DNA test or would like to take one. This is NOT an Autosomal DNA test like the ones from Ancestry or 23andme.

We are looking for any Earl / Earll surname male with a documented line back to Ralph Earle in order to further confirm the Ralph Earle yDNA.

The best place to obtain this yDNA test is Family Tree DNA https://www.familytreedna.com/products/y-dna

If you cannot afford to pay for the test or have been avoiding taking the test because of the cost or would like more information or help, leave a message on my profile Glenn Earls.

Sources

Footnotes and citations:

1. ↑ United States, Transatlantic Migration Indexes. United States. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=US%2FGPC%2F00184679
2. ↑ Earle, Pliny The Earle Family: Ralph Earle and his Descendants, by Pliny Earle. Published by Press of Charles Hamilton, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1888
3. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration Directory (The). Immigrants to New Englnad, 1620-1640. A Concise Compendium. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.) p. 101
4. ↑ The Early Records of the Town of Portsmouth (E. L. Freeman & Sons, Providence, R. I., 1901) , p. 2.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7} Miller, Spencer. "Earle Family of Bishop's Stortford, Co. Herts, England." in "New York Genealogical and Biographical Record," vol. 67. (1936): pages 390-393. Birth and marriage cite the parish register.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} The genealogical dictionary of Rhode Island : comprising three generations of settlers who came before 1690 : with many families carried to the fourth generation by Austin, John Osborne, 1849-1918 Publication date 1887 Publisher Albany : J. Munsell's sons p. 69
7. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQ6P-CJC ), Raulphe Earles, 9 Feb 1606.
8. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," database, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJLS-L4W https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NLSN-64M Ralphe Earle and Joan Savage, 29 June 1631; citing Saint Michaels, Bishops Stortford, Hertford, England, reference 2:1NB7MZN, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 991,366.
9. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," FamilySearch online database. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NLSN-64M ), Ralphe Earle and Joan Savage, 29 June 1631.
10. ↑ NEHGR, vol. 93 (1939): pages 361-362. "Joan (Savage) Earle of Newport R.I."
11. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NKWM-GLW : 24 March 2020), Ralphe Earle, 22 April 1632.
12. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JSKY-NF2), William Earle, 11 May 1634.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Earle, Pliny. The Earle family : Ralph Earle and his descendants, (Worcester, Mass.: Press of Charles Hamilton, 1888) pp 18-21
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3} Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England by Rhode Island; Bartlett, John Russell. (A. C. Greene and Brothers, state printers [etc.], 1856) 1638 p. 91; 1639 p. 70; lumber p. 97; 1655 p. 313;
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England. by Rhode Island; Bartlett, John Russell, (Providence : A. C. Greene and Brothers, state printers [etc.], 1856) p. 218; p. 394
16. ↑ Portsmouth. The early records of the town of Portsmouth; by Portsmouth (R.I.); Perry, Amos, 1812-1899, ed; Brigham, Clarence S. (Clarence Saunders), 1877-1963, ed (Providence, R.I., E. L. Freeman & Sons, state printers, 1901) inn p. 36;
17. ↑ Portsmouth: 1649 treasurer p. 42I
18. ↑ Portsmouth. ; Genl Assmbly p. 44
19. ↑ Portsmouth p. 47
20. ↑ Portsmouth p. 50
21. ↑ Portsmouth. pp 54/5
22. ↑ Portsmouth p. 57
23. ↑ Portsmouth p. 65
24. ↑ Portsmouth p. 65
25. ↑ Portsmouth p. 67
26. ↑ Portsmouth p. 82
27. ↑ Portsmouth p. 147

Source list:

• Miller, Spencer. "Earle Family of Bishop's Stortford, Co. Herts, England." in "New York Genealogical and Biographical Record," vol. 67. (1936): pages 390-393

• Savage, James Francis. Family of John Savage of Middletown, Conn. 1894. No. 14, pg. 35 Addition "William Corey d. 1682; a lieutenant, captain and deputy; m. Mary dau. of Capt. Ralph and Joan (Savage) Earle, of Portsmouth, R. I." p. 35

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 93 no. 4 (October 1939): pages 361-362. "Joan (Savage) Earle of Newport R.I.," by G. Andrews Moriarty. AmericanAncecestors.org link].

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 60 (Boston, 1906), p. 400. Link at AmericanAncestors ($) Regarding William Wood husband of dtr. Martha.

• The American Genealogist, vol. 19 no. 3 (January 1943): page135. "Additions and Corrections to Austin's Genealogial Dictionary of Rhode Island: Ralph Earle," by G. Andrews Moriarty. AmericanAncestors.org link.

• Earle, Pliny. The Earle Family : Ralph Earle and His Descendants. (Worcester, 1888). Internet Archive link.

• http://ffish.com/family_tree/pedigrees/3273.htm