1870 Allen, OH, Sugar Creek, p 561 Roll: M593_1168
David Early, 38, VA
Sarah, 36, OH
Harriet S, 16, OH
Mary, 15, OH
Emeline, 12, OH
Abraham, 10, OH
Daniel, 8, OH
Elizabeth, 6, OH
Joseph, 3, OH
Isaac, 22, OH, Married in May
Mary, 18, OH, Married in May
Mary C Riedy, 29, servant
William Miller, 15, farm labor

1880 Allen, OH, Bath, p 407A Roll: T9_990
Isaac Early, 33, OH, VA, VA
Mary, 28, OH, VA, VA
Ora E, daughter, 9, OH, OH, OH
Ira E, son, 8, OH, OH, OH
Emma M, daughter, 7, OH, OH, OH
Mervy F, son, 3, OH, OH, OH
Charlie M, son, 2, OH, OH, OH
Eva F, daughter, 1, OH, OH, OH
---, son, 1/12, OH, OH, OH, born in May
George Flager, servant, 20, NY, Bavaria, Bavaria
Rachel Hershberger, servant, 24, VA, VA, VA

A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana By Timothy Edward Howard, p 984
Rev. Isaac Early. During many years Rev. Isaac Early was a most efficient laborer in the cause of Christianity in the German Baptist church. A strong and forcible speaker, earnest and eloquent in the presentation of the truth, his efforts were abundantly blessed. He was of German descent, (for his grandfather was born in the fatherland,) and was a native of Rockingham county, Virginia, where his birth ocurred on the 7th of March. 1838, a son of Jacob and Mary (Simmons) Early. In their family were nine children, seven sons and two daughters, but only four of the number are now living, namely: Rev. Early, whose name introduces this review ; Abraham, a retired farmer living in Cairo. Ohio-, Samuel, a prosperous farmer in Allen county. Ohio; and Jacob, also an agriculturist of that county. Three of the sons were soldiers in the Civil war, Noah, Abraham and Jonas, and Abraham was for seven months incarcerated in Libby prison, where he was nearly starved to death.
Jacob Early, the father, was also a native of Rockingham county. Virginia, born about 1818. He was reared as a farmer's son, and was a well, although self, educated man, speaking and writing both the German and English languages. In 1840 with his family he joined a small colony bound for Lima, Ohio, making the journey thither in true pioneer style. Mr. Early had saved five hundred dollars, and with that amount he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of heavily timbered land, their first habitation there being a primitive log cabin of one room, where the family ate, slept and lived, the mother cooking on the old-fashioned fireplace. Lima, the now populous city, was but a hamlet, and their farm was located five miles north of that city. Wishing to add eighty acres to his original purchase and being without money, Mr. Early sought the aid of his friend, Samuel Miller, a wealthy man who had come with the colony, who advanced the money, and the first crop of wheat raised paid for the land. About 1864. however, Mr. Early sold this farm of two hundred and forty acres for ten thousand dollars and removed to Illinois, there purchasing three hundred acres of land, but sold it ere it had been inclosed and returned to his former home in Ohio, where he remained until his life's labors were ended in death in 1905. In his political affiliations he voted first with the Democracy, later with the Whigs, and at the formation of the Republican party he joined its ranks, remaining thereafter a loyal supporter of its principles. Both he and his wife were members of the German Baptist church. He was a grand old man of his time, and the family were honored in the communities in which they resided. Mrs. Early was born in Virginia about 1815, and her death occurred in 1882, both being interred in Allen county, Ohio, in a little cemetery laid out by the colonists who came with them from Virginia.
Rev. Early, a son of this honored old pioneer couple, was but two years of age when the family journeyed to Ohio, where he was reared as a farmer lad and received his education in the little log school house so common in those early days. When twenty-one years of age he purchased his time of his father, for he was then earning fifteen dollars a month as a carpenter and joiner, all work then being dressed by hand, and after working one year he again entered the school room as a student. With his education completed he entered the teacher's profession, which he continued for two terms after his marriage. On the 18th of April. 1861, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Ir- vin, in Allen county, Ohio, and all of their eight children, three sons and five daughters, are yet living, namely: Sarah M. is the wife of John Reish. a well-known farmer of Portage Prairie, Indiana, and they have four children, Ella M., Mary E., Charles and George. Ilaittie E. is the wife of Ira Gard, a resident fanner of Sawyer, Ward county, North Dakota, and their four children are Nellie, Claude, Russell and Joy. Mary E. is the wife of Charles Ullery. also a resident of Portage Prairie, St. Joseph county, Indiana, and they have two children, Chadwick and Ralph. Mrs. Ullery completed her education in the Valparaiso Normal College, and afterward taught school for one term. A history of the eldest son, Charles Early, will be found in another portion of this volume. Ella May, a twdn of Charles, is the wife of Abraham Whitmer, a salesman in Munich, Cavalier county, North Dakota, and they have three children, Ray, Carroll and Larmon. Mattie is the wife of W. D. Knott, a well-known lumberman of New Madrid, Missouri, and she is an artist in crayon. Their three children are Mary, Dorothy and Robert. William I. has been principal of the public schools of Hunting- ton, Indiana, during the past five years. He, too, attended the Valparaiso normal, and is also a graduate of the state normal at Bloom- ington, Indiana. He married Mariel Peffley, a representative of one of the honored old families of Liberty township, and they have four children. Lee, Harold, Helen and Richard Deane. The family reside in a pleasant home in Huntingdon. John J., the youngest. is now superintendent of the Warsaw, Indiana, public schools, where he has been located during the past four years. He was educated in the same institutions as his brother William, the brothers having worked their way through college. He married Miss Mary Whitmer.

Mrs. Early, the mother, was born in Augusta county, Virginia, May 15, 1843, a daughter of John and Malinda (Mosingo) Ir- vin. Of the parents' five children, four sons and one daughter, three are now living, of whom Mrs. Early is the eldest. The son Henry is a resident farmer of Lima. Ohio, and on his farm are located valuable oil wells. Hugh, the second son, is a dentist in Lima, and he is also the owner of a fruit farm in southern California. Mr. Irvin, the father, was born in Augusta county. Virginia, March 13. 1813, and although a miller he gave his time principally-to farming. He traced his lineage to the English, Scotch and Irish, and the original spelling of the name was Erwin. Mrs. Irvin was born in Western Virginia on January 7, 1813, and' in 1856 they emigrated to Ohio, where both passed away in death, the father in 1889 and the mother in 1896. In their religious affiliations he was a member of the Presbyterian church and his wife of the United Brethren. Mrs. Early was reared in Virginia until her thirteenth year, and she well remembers the trip across the mountains in wagons to Ohio, the journey consuming twenty-two days. After her marriage the young couple located on a rented farm, but after two years they were able to purchase a small place, which they sold in 1865 and came to St. Joseph county, Indiana, he making the journey by horseback and the wife on the train with the children, locating in Liberty township, four miles northeast of North Liberty. Their first purchase consisted of two hundred acres of partially improved land, for which they assumed an indebtedness of four thousand dollars. Subsequently they sold that land and leased a farm in the eastern limits of the village. R�v. Early in 1868 was chosen as a minister of his charge, this district comprising four ministers, and he labored faithfully and earnestly in the Master's vineyard for twenty-eight years. At the expiration of that time his health failed and he was obliged to give up the work. He was thoroughly sincere in all hie thoughts and deeds, and his noble life proved an inspiration to many of those who came under his ministrations. During a period of three years he served as a county commissioner, fulfilling the duties of that important position with the same loyalty which ever characterized all his acts. Mrs. Early served as president of the Ladies' Aid Society of her church, and for many years she has been a teacher in the Sunday school. She has in her home a little kettle given her when a small child by a servant, and which is nearly a century old, also a large double coverlet over three-quarters of a century old woven by her mother. Many years have passed since Rev. and Mrs. Early cast their lot with the residents of St. Joseph county, and as their golden years drew apace they received the love and veneration of all who came under their benign influence. But the husband and father has answered the final roll call, dying August 14, 1907, aged sixty-nine years, five months and seven days. Besides his devoted wife, three brothers, eight children and twenty-four grandchildren are left to mourn his loss. He wielded a noble influence in the church and community. He was a man of truth, honesty and Christian integrity. His life harmonized with his preaching which rendered his life a success among those who knew him. He possessed tact as a counselor in the church and in the home and was admired by young and old for his amiable qualities. All realize that a Christian soldier has fallen, but he fell clad in his armor and loyal to his trust and has gone to reap his eternal reward.