The Earle family : Ralph Earle and his descendants

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INTRODUCTION.
i. One of these is known as the Secaucus branch, so called
from the fact that their American progenitor, Edward Earle
(with his wife Hannah), purchased, in 1676, for "two thou-
sand Dutch dollars," the so-called Island of Secaucus, on the
coast of New Jersey, a few miles westerly from New York
city, together with buildings, stock, and several "Christian
and negro servants," and made that his permanent home.
Some of the Earles now in the city and vicinity of the city of
New York and the adjacent region of New Jersey, are mem-
bers of this branch. So also are some of the Earles of the
British province of New Brunswick, among whom is Dr.
Sylvester Zabriskie (Sobieski) Earle, a resident of St. John,
and the mayor of that city at the time of its devastation by the
great conflagration, in the summer of the year 1876. Abraham
L. Earle, for many years connected with the finance department
of the Comptroller's Office in New York city ; Lawrence
Carmichael Earle, an artist (painter) in Chicago, and Miles
Hitchcock Earle, of the firm of Earle & Miller, in St. Louis,
Mo., are likewise lineal descendants of Edward of Secaucus.
John H. Earle, of Brooklyn, N. Y., another descendant, has
made extensive researches in the genealogy of this branch,
and to him I am indebted for a beautiful manuscript embodiment
of it.
2. During the earlier part of the revolutionary war there
was a Morris Earle in New York city. His wife's maiden
name was Anna de la Montagnia. He died about the year
1780, having had children as follows: 1, Morris; 2, James;
3, William, who is said to have lived at some time in Hart-
ford, Conn.; 4, Rebecca, who m. Henry B. Earle; 5,
Thomas, b. about 1770; m. 1st, Todd; 2d, Matilda
Harrington; d. 1810 ; 6, Anna; and 7, Marmaduke, who
lived at Oyster Bay, Long Island.
The second son, James, was the father of Thomas Earle of
Homer, N. Y. ; and of Absalom B. Earle, the widely known
evangelical minister. William had, at least, four sons, all of
them, thirty years ago, in business in New York city, viz. :