John EARLY (1642 - 1694) He was born in co. Donegal, Ireland and immigrated to the Virginia colony before 1661. From "Descendents of John Early of Virginia", author unknown: "The fact that the name 'John Early' and his wife Margaret Loyall, is found among the records of the counties of the eastern shore as early as 1661 induces the belief that this Early came directly to Virginia from the Motherland. "The parish records prove that 40 years later, Thomas Early and his wife, Elizabeth Johnson, and family were living in the same locality in which John Early, the emigrant, settled. Little has been discovered concerning John or Thomas, due to the destruction of old records and the lapse of time. "The parish register of Christ Church, Middlesex County, gives the name of Thomas Early and his wife, Elizabeth; the birth of their son, Jeremiah in 1705; the death and burial of Elizabeth Early in 1716; the marriage of Jeremiah Early and Elizabeth Buford in 1728; the birth and baptism of their son John in 1729. "In 1734 Jeremiah Early purchased land in Orange county, Virginia, which had just been formed from Spotsylvania county. Together with some of the Buford connection, he moved to that part of Orange county which 14 years later was taken to form Culpeper county; his plantation lay towards "the Great Mountains" and he became registered as 'Jeremiah Early, Planter'. A decade after his death the part of the county in which the estate lay again changed its county name to Madison, and his family became known as the 'Earlys of Madison'". No additional information regarding John Early.