Possible English Origins of Edward Earle of Secaucus NJ
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Surnames/tags: Earle Erle
Possible English Origins of Edward Earle of Secaucus NJ
Edward Earle Sr. (1628-1711) came to America in 1662. He first lived in St. Mary’s Colony Maryland and then entered into a land partnership in 1664 with Joseph Dawkins in Calvert County Maryland. He was recorded as still in partnership with Dawkins in 1671. Sometime after 1671 he moved to the New York Colony. He began the purchase of Secaucus Island in 1673, and then in 1676 he completed the purchase of the Island of Secaucus New Jersey.
Edward Earle is a descendent of the Erleigh family in England, The Erleigh family surname is of very ancient origin, and the use of it can be traced back to sometime shortly after the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
We have no basis (Sources) for identifying the given name of Edward Sr.'s father, nor any basis for determining where in England Edward came from.
His father's name is presumed to also be named Edward (b. abt 1590) but this is pure speculation based on the record of an Edward Earle sailing from Gravesend England to Virgina Colony in 1635. There is no basis for connecting the Edward Earle who first shows up in Maryland in 1662 with the Edward Earle who sailed to Virginia in 1635. They are not father and son.
In 1925 Isaac Newton Earle (I.N. Earle) a direct decendent of Edward Earle published a comprehensive book on Earle Genealogy called:
History and genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus [1]
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- This narrative from the book contains unsourced speculation and conjecture. It is not a credible source. See the theories below from the book below.
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Theory #1 - Edward Earle From the Lancanshire Branch.
As written by I.N. Earle in the book "History and genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus", 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. We have conjectured that Edward, Senior, sailed from Liverpool in 1649, and that he was connected with the Lancashire Earles, but there is not the slightest foundation for these conjectures that I am aware of outside of the imagination of some genealogical investigator.
Theory #2 - THE EARLES OF GREAT TILSE Doncaster Yorkshire
As written by I.N. Earle in the book "History and genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus", There was an Edward Earle, of Great Tilse, Doncaster, Yorkshire, whose will is dated Jan. 3, 1604, Henry Earle witness, was married to Anna. They had five children: Barbara, Eliza, Alice, Edward and William. This line breaks off suddenly in England, leaving no trace of themselves, making it natural to suppose that they emigrated to America. The names William, Alice, Anna or Hannah, as well as Edward, reappear in the family of Edward, Junior. This is at least suggestive. These are four out of the six names of this pedigree. It is possible and not at all improbable that this is the stock from which we sprang in England, but in the present state of our knowledge we shall have to be content with probability.
Possible death 1604 connections: Edward Earle (abt.1549-abt.1604) Died 1604 in York, Yorkshire. Edward Earle (abt.1564-abt.1605) Died 1605 married to Anna.
This Edward is the probable "Edward Sr." Edward Earle (abt.1629-) He was born in 1629 in Arksey, Yorkshire. Arksey is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. His father was William Earle.
Theory #3 - THE ALDBOROUGH YORKSHIRE EARLES
As written by I.N. Earle in the book "History and genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus", there is an Edward Earle (abt.1606-) who is christened in 1606, who was the son of John Earle (abt.1564-abt.1604) married to Alice Barwick in 1597. The Aldborough line does not break off suddenly in England as does the Great Tilse line, but no descendants are given for this Edward. As far as dates are concerned he might have been the father of Edward, of Secaucus, in 1628.
Theory #4 - Edward Earle who sailed from Gravesend
As written by I.N. Earle in the book "History and genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus", Mr. Isaac J. Greenwood, of New York City, related to the Earle family, and interested in gathering genealogical data, has an exceedingly interesting story in his notes, and for which he appears to have documentary evidence. I quote the passage in his words: “Edward Erie, aged forty-five, was a passenger in August, 1635, on the ship ‘Thomas,’ Captain Henry Tavener, to be conveyed from Gravesend, England, to Virginia; he and the other passengers had been examined by the minister at that place touching their conformity to the orders and discipline of the Church of England, and the men had taken, as was customary, the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. The record does not tell from what part of England he came, but he evidently settled in Maryland, and was the father of Edward Earl who removed to Bergen, in the Province of New Jersey.” This fits in with the known fact that our Edward came from Maryland to New Jersey. Here we have an Edward Erie, whose age is known, sailing from a definite port at a definite date, headed toward the Colony of Virginia. That the name is spelled Erie does not signify, as this was the common orthography for generations in the Devon and Dorset families. It might suggest that he came from one of those counties, or that the family to which he belonged originated there. As he sailed from Gravesend, at the mouth of the Thames, he may have been from Kent or Sussex. We know that there were Earles in those counties.
Theory #5 - Linking Gravesend to Doncaster, Yorkshire
As written by I.N. Earle in the book "History and genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus", There is a family tradition that our family came from Yorkshire, England. There was an Edward Earle, of Doncaster, York, who died in 1604. His sons were Edward and William. So far as dates are concerned this last Edward could have been the father of our Edward (Sr). We have reason for thinking that Edward, Sr., was the son of an Edward. The name has been very common in the family. There were five Edwards in direct line, as we shall see later. The natural port to sail from would have been Liverpool. This may be the Edward above who sailed from Gravesend which would not have been the natural port for a resident of Yorkshire, however, do not know the circumstances. There was considerable migration in those days, and a man born in Yorkshire in 1590 might easily have been living in the south of England forty-five years later. We are not offering positive information, but only possibility and plausibility. That is all that is attainable at present, and far more than was attained till quite recently.
Theory #6 - The Barbadoes Connection
As written by I.N. Earle in the book "History and genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus", The fact is that the only Edward of whose emigration we have a definite record of is the Edward Erle who sailed from Gravesend in 1635. We just don't know where he was born or what family he is connected to.
In the absence of all other documentary evidence, he may be assumed to be the progenitor of the Secaucus Earles, especially as he fits all other known facts.
There is a persistent tradition that our Edward came to America by way of the Island of Barbados in the West Indies, though we do not know what ground there is for it. Neither do we know any reason for doubting it.
Sir. Edward Earle, of Yonkers, N. Y., writing in 1893, says: “There is a statement somewhere that the original Edward Earle went from England to Barbados."
There seems to be some foundation for the tradition that Edward. Sr. went first to Barbados.
In the first place, the usual course of vessels at that time, sailing for the new world was via Barbados.
We read in the Encyclopedia Americana: “Some of the white inhabitants are of the best English stock, being descendants of early settlers who were closely allied by the bonds of blood or ties of friendship with the colonists of Virginia.” It might be safely predicated of any immigrant to America at that date that he went by way of Barbados.
At the time of troubles in England between Charles I. and Parliament, Barbados became the great objective point for the Royalist refugees. Colonel Drax and other Cavaliers visited Barbados in 1647. Colonel Henry Drax married Elizabeth, granddaughter of General Thomas Erle, of Charborough. He afterward married the daughter of the Earl of Carlisle, proprietor of the Island.
History of Barbados https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Barbados
In the period 1640–60, the West Indies attracted over two-thirds of the total number of English emigrants to the Americas. By 1650, there were 44,000 settlers in the West Indies, as compared to 12,000 on the Chesapeake and 23,000 in New England.
...the Commonwealth Parliament passed an act on 3 October 1650 prohibiting trade between England and Barbados, and because the island also traded with the Netherlands, further navigation acts were passed prohibiting any but English vessels trading with Dutch colonies.
These acts were a precursor to the First Anglo-Dutch War. The Commonwealth of England sent an invasion force under the command of Sir George Ayscue, which arrived in October 1651. After some skirmishing, the Royalists in the House of Assembly led by Lord Willoughby surrendered. The conditions of the surrender were incorporated into the Charter of Barbados (Treaty of Oistins), which was signed at the Mermaid's Inn, Oistins, on 17 January 1652.
The introduction of sugar cane from Dutch Brazil in 1640 completely transformed society and the economy. Barbados eventually had one of the world's biggest sugar industries.
In 1644, the population of Barbados was estimated at 30,000, of which about 800 were of African descent, with the remainder mainly of English descent. These English smallholders were eventually bought out and the island filled up with large African slave-worked sugar plantations.
As the sugar industry developed into its main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates that replaced the smallholdings of the early English settlers.
Mr. Samuel Sloan Earle, son of Abraham Lent Earle, the original investigator of the Earle genealogy while traveling abroad, in 1867, met some elderly persons named Earle, who were natives of Barbados, and who were desirous to ascertain whether he was a descendant of certain Earles “who had gone from Barbados to Maryland during the old colonial times.” Mr. Earle continues: “Not feeling interested in the subject at that time I did not give it the attention to which it was entitled; but at a later date I mentioned the fact to my father, who explained that our family came from England, via Barbados, to Maryland, and thence to New Jersey, where they named their plantation ‘New Barbados’ in honor of their former place of residence.” It would seem from this that prior to 1867 Mr. Abraham Lent Earle had knowledge of Edward’s visit to Barbados and residence in Maryland.
It will be seen that it is more than likely that our ancestor stopped at Barbados on his way to America. If it was the seven-year-old boy, in 1635, he probably tarried there some years. It is almost certain that the elder Edward did not go directly to Maryland, which was not settled till 1634. The state of affairs in Virginia did not make that colony very inviting at that early period. We are, of course, in the dark here, and can do nothing more than make out a plausible case. It seems very probable that our Edward made the acquaintance in Barbados of Nathaniel Kingsland, with whom he afterward he may have been associated with his Nathaniel Kingsland's nephew Isaac Kingsland in New Jersey.
Kingsland removed to New Jersey and purchased property there, prior to Earle’s arrival, which he named New Barbados. (This is incorrect. Kingsland never visited New Jersey)
In 1668, Major Nathaniel Kingsland became interested in the lands that were taken from the Dutch by the English. He dispatched his nephew, Captain William Sandford, to research and purchase land near New York City, in what was becoming the colony of East Jersey or New Jersey. “Sanford agreed to pay an annual rental of 20 pounds for the land and settle six or eight families within three years."
The land purchase was a two part transaction. First Kingsland received a land grant from the proprietors of the Province of New Jersey. The tract of land included the present communities of Rutherford, Lyndhurst, North Arlington, Kearny, East Newark, and Harrison. Second, on July 29, 1668, Sandford bought the residual title of the land from the Hackensack Indians.
In today's terms Kingsland and Sandford were land developers and received vacant land from the government against the promise to bring in settlers and commerce.
Since Major Kingsland was living in Barbados (Major Nathaniel Kingsland never visited New Jersey) and the shape of the territory he purchased in New Jersey was a neck of land between two rivers, he named his acquisition 'New Barbadoes Neck.' In June 1671, Nathaniel Kingsland sold the southern third of New Barbadoes Neck (Harrison, East Newark, Kearny and North Arlington) to William Sandford (his sister's son - nephew by marriage) for 200 pounds. He kept the section that now comprises Rutherford and Lyndhurst.
Major Kingsland never visited the property in East Jersey, but his nephews Isaac and Gustavus Kingsland (brother Robert's sons) settled on it. Isaac constructed the first real house in Lyndhurst in the vicinity of Kingsland and Schuyler Avenues. When Isaac died in 1698, his oldest son, Colonel Edmund Kingsland inherited all of the land and buildings that he owned.
There is now a station on the D. L. and W. R. R. named Kingsland, a little west of Secaucus. It was undoubtedly Kingsland's influence that led Edward Earle to New Jersey some years later (This is Complete Speculation and Conjecture).
This settles beyond dispute that Edward was in New Jersey as early as 1673. Why he left Maryland we can only conjecture. It was very probably through the influence of Kingsland, whom he seems to have known in Barbados, and who settled in New Jersey about this time. It is not unlikely that the larger opportunity offered by the vicinity of New York had something to do with his decision.
Research Notes:
The reasons Edward Earle left Maryland and eventually purchased land in New Jersey are the same as Nathaniel Kingsland. There was land there to be purchased. Just becuase they and many others were interested in land in New Jersey does not prove that they knew each other or that Kingsland influenced Edward Earle.
A more plausible explanation why Edward Earle left Marland is that his Wife's family were from New York and his father-in-law, John (Bayles) Baylis, was previously involved in a land deal to purchase land in New Jersey. The Elizabethtown Tract was a property that was purchased on October 28, 1664, by a group of Long Islanders consisting of John Bayless, Daniel Denton, John Foster, Luke Watson I Esq. and Associates. This was unknown at the time of the writing of the book "History and genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus" by I.N. Earle. In the book he does not know who the fahter of Hannah Baylis is and does not know that her family lived in New York.
Information from other Historical Books
From The Van Norden family ... 1623-1923
(This contains some unsourced speculation)
- " Edward Earle was born in England, probably in Yorkshire, about 1628. Probably a royalist, he left England, 1649, and went to Barbadoes; and to Maryland, 1658, where he is said to have married Hannah Baylis (B. in Eng. about 1640) about 1667. He removed about 1673 to New York; and Ap. 24, 1676 he acquired the island of Secaucus, N. J. This was formed by the Hackensack River on the N., W. & S.; and by two creeks rising near together, on the E; and was some three miles from Hoboken. It comprised about three thousand acres.1 And in 1701 he was one of the nine "Persons of Ye Best Estates in East Jersie."2 He built a stone house in1689. Member of House of Delegates, 1694; and speaker, 1698.3 D. 1711.4 He could not write, and signed his mark."[2]
From Early New Netherlands Settlers
(This contains some unsourced speculation)
- "...Edward Earle, who was born 1627 at Yorkshire?, England and died 11 December 1711 at Secaucus, Bergen (Hudson) County, New Jersey at 84 years of age.
- "He married about 1667 Johanna Baylis Earle, who was born about 1640 and died after 1720 at 80 years of age.
- "Buried at 15 December 1711. Occupation 1 - - Farmer. Occupation 2 - - Assemblyman. Occupation 3 - - Justice of the Peace. Occupation 4 - - Assistant Judge. First Residence - - Yorkshire?, England. Second Residence - - Barbadoes, West Indies. Third Residence - - Maryland in 1658. Fourth Residence - - Secaucus, Bergen (Hudson) County, New Jersey in 1676. Emigration - - Emigrant in 1658 from Yorkshire, England to Maryland Colony. Will - - His will was dated 16 May 1709 and proved 8 May 1717. [3] [4]"[5]
From The heroes of the American Revolution and their descendants (Brother of Walter Earle Theory)
By Henry Whittemore (1897) - http://books.google.com/books?id=tGA9AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r& cad=0#
Page 50:
There are probably few men in the country better known in connection with the various patriotic and colonial societies than Gen. Ferdinand P. Earle, of the Board of Managers, Empire State Society, S. A. R. His ancestry includes some of the leading families of this country whose lines extend back to the feudal ages.
Edward Earle, the American ancestor, went from England to the Barbadoes and thence to Baltimore, Md., where he married Hannah Baylis. In 1676 he removed to New Jersey and purchased the Island of Secaucus, in Bergen County, N. J., and was the progenitor of theEarle family of that State. He was a descendant of Edward Earle, the youngest of the English family of that name who took such a prominent part in the Parliamentary struggles in England, his brother, Sir Walter Earle, being the originator of the Habeas Corpus Act.
The English ancestors of the family extend back in an unbroken line to John de Erlegh, of Beckington, County Somerset. Of the allied families of the Earls of this country are included the Phelps, Porters and Hulls, of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and Thomas Spencer, who served under Capt. Mason in his attack on the stronghold of the Pequots; also Capt. John Bissell, Capt. Benjamin Pinney, Joseph King and Serg. Thomas Huxley, all of whom served in King Philip's War; also Judge Earle and Judge Vreeland, of Bergen, N. J., Abraham Fint6, of the Revolution, Dr. Johanne de La Montagne, member of the councils of Garvin, Kuft and Sturtevant, etc.
Edward Earle, the American ancestor, to whom reference has already been made, had a son, Marmaduke, born 1668; died 1714; married Elsie Vreelandt. They had issue, Morris,born October 6, 1696; died 1765. He, by his wife, Rebecca , had a son, Uriltiam, born 1734; married Hannah Montagne. They had a son, William Pitt, born April 22, 1775; died May 29, 1849; married Martha Pinto. The issue of this marriage was William Pitt Earle,born June 14, 1812.
William Pitt Earle, the father of Gen. Ferdinand P., was for many years a leading hotel proprietor in New York, and at the time of his death was one of the oldest men in that line of business. He was for many years proprietor of the famous Clinton House, of Hartford, Conn., and later of the Lorillard House, New York, which was subsequently known and achieved a national reputation as Earle's Hotel. He married Elizabeth Pinney, daughter of Judge Benjamin Pinney, of Ellington, Conn., son of Eleazer, son of Capt. Benjamin, son of Samuel (2), son of Samuel (1), son of Humphrey, the ancestor.
Our pioneer ancestors; by Riggs, Emma King Hynes, b. 1867; Riggs, Henry Earle, b. 1865, joint author
https://archive.org/details/ourpioneerancest02rigg/page/122/mode/2up
The founder of the Secaucus Branch of the Earle family in America, the branch from which our line is descended, Edward Earle, Sr., was born in England in 1628. The record at the Bergen Reformed Dutch Church is as follows: "Edward Earle, old man, buried in Island Sychakes, Dec. 15, 1711, in his 84th year.
There is no definite knowledge as to his connection with any of the English branches of the family, nor is there any exact knowledge as to when he left England. Various family traditions exist.
Rev. I. N. Earle devotes a dozen pages to the presentation and discussion of the rumors and traditions and is inclined to accept the following statement.
Mr. I. J. Greenwood, a connection says "Edward Earle, aged forty-five was a passenger in August 1635 on the ship 'Thomas; Captain Henry Tavener, to be conveyed from Gravesend England to Virginia; he and the other passengers had been examined by the minister at that place touching their conformity to the orders and discipline of the Church of England, and the men had taken, as was customary, the oaths of allegiance and supremacy.
The record does not tell from what part of England he came, but he evidently settled in Maryland and was the father of Edward Earle who removed to Bergen in the Province of New Jersey. Edward of Secuacus would then have been seven years old. It appears
later, in the New Jersey records, that he was several times in the very early records, referred to as Edward Earle Junior. Rev. I. N. Earle after a careful study of the records and traditions accepts this statement:
There is another tradition that he sailed from Liverpool in 1649, but there is no record of any Edward Earle In Maryland prior to 1664.
There Is also a persistent tradition that he came to America by way of the Island of Barbadoes. This seems a reasonable assumption as Maryland was not settled till 1634.
Edward Earle was closely associated with a Major Kingsland in New Jersey. Kingsland had lived in Barbadoes for some years, went to New Jersey before Edward Earle did, and named his plantation "New Barbadoes.
On November 28th, 1664, Joseph Dockings (Dawkins) assigned 150 acres of land to Edward Earle, and on Sept. 15, 1665, Joseph Dockings and Edward Earle patented 300 acres of land known as "Bachelor's Hall," in Calvert County, Maryland.
It has been pointed out by us in the Hynes history, that the Maryland grants from Lord Baltimore, were all named and not sold by metes and bounds description. "Bachelor's Hall" would be a typical Maryland description.
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