early and his family were taken by their masters to missouri in 1826, where early joined the methodist church, and was emancipated in the same year. while working on a riverboat that plied between st. louis and new orleans, he learned how to read and write, taught by a presbyterian minister and a shipmate. joining the african methodist episcopal church in 1832, early worked to build more local congregations. in 1836, he was licensed as an ame preacher. he helped expand the church in st. louis, new orleans, illinois, indiana, and tennessee. by 1838, he was ordained a deacon. in 1840, early and other supporters built the first ame church in st. louis.