Capt. Tubal Early, 1770-1841

Tubal Early was born in 1770 in Bedford Virginia, the son of Joshua and Mary Leftwich Early. He enlisted in the Army of Northern Virginia, eventually achieving the rank of captain. In 1825, he married Charlotte Scruggs. In 1835 Capt. Early, a staunch abolitionist, moved from Virginia to Ohio with his wife Charlotte, mother-in-law, and nearly 20 free black men and women (it is not known how this group was assembled or where they came from). Capt. Early offered them protection on the journey, then sponsored many of them as they worked to establish themselves in Goshen. Ironically, his younger cousin Jubal Early was one of the Confederate’s fiercest generals who, eventually, met a crushing defeat at Winchester at the hands of Union Gen. Sheridan. While most of those who travelled north with the Earlys struggled to find work and acceptance, several stayed with the Early family in Goshen, working alongside them. Charlotte even took it upon herself to educate some of the group, hoping it would help them find better work and lead lives of higher purpose. Although she claimed when they arrived in Goshen that her husband had “considerable means,” by the time of Tubal Early’s death in 1841 Charlotte was left with nothing. Her house soon fell into ruin and was sold to pay off debts. Perhaps sponsoring nearly 20 freed slaves contributed to the sharp decline in their finances. One of those men, known only as Dennis, is buried next to Tubal Early in Goshen Cemetery; decades later Dennis' grave was vandalized, with all engravings chipped away from the face of the stone. The relationship between the Earlys and the freed slaves they brought to Goshen continued after Tubal’s death; two men from the original group eventually moved with Charlotte Early to Covington KY.