Early, Jacob M.
Born: 1806-02-22 Virginia
Died: 1838-03-11 Springfield, Illinois
Flourished: Sangamon County, Illinois
Around 1831, Early moved to Springfield, Illinois. Soon thereafter, he married Catharine Rickard, with whom he had two children. In addition to working as a physician and a Methodist preacher, during the Black Hawk War, Early commanded a company of mounted volunteers that included Abraham Lincoln. Henry Truett shot Early in 1838 after hearing that Early had pushed for a resolution removing Truett from his political office. Lincoln defended Truett in the subsequent murder trial.
Gravestone, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL; John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 275-76;