James Earley - ?judge in Montana?

[lisa06]

I wonder if anyone has any ideas about how to check out this family myth/story.

An ancestor James Earley, born in 1858 in Bedlington, Northumberland and a poor coal miner is alleged to have left his wife (Maria Jane Hall) around 1888 and ended up apparently becoming a judge in Montana.  A family story says there is a statue in Montana in his honour.  I have been unable to substantiate any of this, though certainly Maria Jane is heading up the family on her own by 1891 in Gateshead and lists herself as still being married (for 32 years) in the 1911 census.  A record of judges I found on the internet for Montana does not list James.  It all seems highly suspect.  But anyone got any ideas?

Lisa

[*Sandra*]

Sorry I should have said Welcome to Rootschat. did'nt notice it was only your 2nd post. 

The first date we can check on the Census to seee if James was in Montana is 1900 - 1890 was destroyed by fire and only remnants remain.
I cannot see a James Earley on the Census 1900 or 1910 in Montana. 

[Lisa in California]

Welcome to RootsChat, Lisa.   

I tried internet searches for combinations of words including: James Earley, Montana, Judge, Judge Earley, Statue and have not yet found anything. 

[*Sandra*]

Hello Lisa,

Sorry still negative I'm afraid, have just checked through the immigration entries but found nothing I can tie in to with your James. 
Here are a few sites which you might be able to play around with or that may help you in the future, its always changing the date of birth, spelling variation etc.,
The ellis island site you only need to register, it is free.

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start

http://www.ellisisland.org/

http://www.castlegarden.org/searcher.php

[Lisa in California]

Montana index for deaths (I don't know how complete this is):
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mtmsgs/death_records.htm?cj=1&o_xid=0000584978&o_lid=0000584978
(Of course, he may not have died in Montana.)

[Erato]

I see no sign of this man, either.  But becoming a judge may simply have meant a local ‘justice of the peace.’  I have an ancestor in about the same time period who became a judge in Missouri but he had no special education or training.  Presumably he was just a respected member of the community or he had the necessary political connections.

[*Sandra*]

I have a distant relative in one of my lines who became Mayor of Belt. Cascade. Montana - sounded like the easiest thing in the world to get info on - but not so.

[shellyesq]

I think I found an article about your man.  It's from the Billings Montana Gazette from 18 Feb. 1962.  It refers to a Judge James A. Wilson, who turned out to really be James Early, who had been an iron monger in a British Isles city.  It says he came to Malta, Montana about 60 years ago.  He had been believed to be a bachelor, but it turned out that he had a wife & 6 kids who he abandoned.  It says he became ill, was sent to Warm Springs Hospital, and died there in the spring of 1936.  The article says his wife was Marie Jane Early.  It says he returned to England for a visit in 1926, and his family hadn't known of his whereabouts before that.  The article said he did study the law, so at least the judge part seems to be truthful.

If you send me your e-mail address in a private message, I will send the article to you.

This page may refer to him as a constable - http://valley.mtgenweb.org/VCG_1898.htm

There is an entry on the Montana death index for a James Wilson who died 2 Jun. 1936 at age 78 in Deer Lodge Co.

James Wilson appears to be on the 1900 Census in Malta Valley Township, Montana, which you can see on the Family Search Labs site mentioned above in dettori's post.

[*Sandra*]

Absolutely brilliant piece of research - shellyesq has done you proud. So the myth becomes real - I am so pleased for you Lisa.  Perhaps someone will also have knowledge of the statue -I do hope so.  Fabulous result.