in 1843, he married louisa carter, and they had eight children, four of whom survived to adulthood. the earlys sent their children to wilberforce university. he became licensed as an exhorter in 1853. in the late 1850s, early evangelized in tennessee and founded ame missions in missouri (kirkwood, saint charles, roche port, washington, jefferson city, louisiana, booneville, saint joseph, and weston).