{{Short description|American hotelier}} {{Infobox person | name = Eleazer Early | image = | caption = | birth_date = 1779 | birth_place = Orange County, Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1840|6|29|1779}} | death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | burial_place = Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C., U.S. | occupation = Hotelier }}

'''Eleazer Early''' (1779 – June 29, 1840) was an American hotelier. In 1821, he built the first hotel in Savannah, Georgia, to a design by noted architect William Jay. In 1984, the significance of the building was recognized by the Historical American Buildings Survey.<ref name="bell">Malcolm Bell, Jr., "Ease and Elegance, Madeira and Murder: The Social Life of Savannah's City Hotel," ''The Georgia Historical Quarterly,'' vol. 76, no. 3 (Fall 1992), p. 552.</ref> That same year, architectural students of the Savannah College of Art and Design determined that Jay was the building's architect.<ref name="bell" />

Early later became the second librarian of the United States House of Representatives.

==Life and early career== Early, a descendent of English immigrant John Early,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Branson |first=Laura |title=Eleazer Early |publisher=Georgia Southern University |year=1991}}</ref> was born in Orange County, Virginia, in early 1779, to Joel Early and Lucy Smith. Eleazer's brother, Peter, was a future governor of the State of Georgia.<ref name=":0">Early''. The Baltimore Sun'', June 29, 1840</ref> Their sister, Lucy, later married Charles Lewis Mathews.<ref name="Patrick">Patrick, Rembert W. (2010). ''Florida Fiasco: Rampant Rebels on the Georgia-Florida Border, 1810-1815''. University of Georgia Press, 2010. {{ISBN|0820335495}}, 9780820335490</ref>

The family had moved to Wilkes County, Georgia, by 1790.<ref name=":1" /> A family feud led to Joel Early disinheriting his son.<ref name=":1" />

In 1799, Early was a merchant in Augusta, Georgia.<ref>[https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ReRKW9iKx4/YFotm0QHrXI/AAAAAAAAChE/47RqaD2J2os7r4oYV-7MkI2CkWH4Di3DACPcBGAYYCw/w177-h343/Early%252C%2BEleazer%2B1799%2BAD.png Advertisement for Early's business, December 1799]</ref>

After being declared bankrupt in 1802, the following year he married Jane Meriweather Paterson in Richmond County, Georgia.<ref name=":1" /> His new bride had "inherited handsomely" from her maternal uncle Thomas Meriweather. His new sister-in-law, Susannah, had recently become the third wife of Daniel Sturges Jr., Georgia State Surveyor. Susannah died around 1811, shortly after giving birth to Jane Louisa Sturges and a year after her husband was jailed for debt. The Earlys fostered their niece, changing her surname to their own. Sturges died around twelve years later.

One of Early's first roles was as comptroller general for the State of Georgia, between around 1806 until 1809,<ref name=":1" /> when David Brydie Mitchell was elected as governor. Mitchell instead made him secretary in his executive department.

He ran for the office of Secretary of State of the Georgia State Legislature, but was defeated by Horatio Marbury.<ref name=":1" />

The Earlys returned to Early's former home of Augusta in 1810. Eleazer worked as cashier of the Bank of Augusta.

In 1812, he submitted completed a survey of the State of Georgia, created by his brother-in-law's hand, and submitted the resulting map to the City of Savannah.<ref name=":1" />

Savannah, Georgia, became the Early family's home in 1816. Eleazer began working as cashier at the Bank of the State of Georgia, but transferred a short time later to the newly established Second Bank of the United States.<ref name=":1" />

Another map was engraved by Samuel Harrison in 1818.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1818 |title="Map of the State of Georgia, Prepared from actual Surveys and other Documents, for Eleazer Early, By Daniel Sturges." Published & Sold By Eleazer Early, Savannah, Georgia . . . Engraved by Saml. Harrison, 1818. |url=http://digitalarchives.columbusstate.edu/items/show/34 |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=digitalarchives.columbusstate.edu}}</ref> The following year, Early is listed as having paid $23.25 tax on three slaves, a carriage and building on two lots in Savannah valued at $7,000. With his class standing having improved markedly, Early sent Jane Louisa to boarding school in Philadelphia, to which the family moved.

=== City Hotel === {{Main|City Hotel (Savannah, Georgia)}} thumb|The former City Hotel, pictured in 2019

In 1821, Early built City Hotel, the first hotel in Savannah, Georgia. It was designed by William Jay, and was built on land purchased by his wife four years earlier.<ref name="bell" /> It had "33 rooms, exclusive of the bar."<ref name="bell" /> It evoked the habits of extravagance which his father had found distasteful from early on. Early borrowed $9,000 from Hampden McIntosh.

In January 1820, during the building's construction, it was damaged by the fire that swept through Savannah.<ref name="bell" />

Having become Savannah's postmaster in July 1820, the hotel housed, as lessees, the first branch of the United States Post Office in the city, as well as a branch of the Second Bank of the United States, of which Early was the first cashier.<ref name="bell" /><ref name="about2">[https://www.moonriverbrewing.com/about-us About Moon River Brewing Company] - MoonRiverBrewing.com</ref> By this point, the Earlys held eight slaves, five of whom were younger than fourteen.

In October 1820, Jane Early transferred the property into her husband's name.<ref name="bell" />

Early leased the hotel to Orran (possibly ''Oran'') Byrd, also of Charleston, in January 1821. Byrd agreed to a $4,000 rental fee.<ref name="bell" /> Byrd became the postmaster of the hotel's Post Office.<ref name="bell" /> He placed a "classically bordered advertisement in Joshua Shaw's ''United States Directory for the Use of Travellers and Merchants''<ref>[https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/357135 ''United States Directory for the Use of Travellers and Merchants''] - Metropolitan Museum of Art</ref> of 1823:<ref name="talbott2">''Classical Savannah: Fine & Decorative Arts, 1800–1840'', Page Talbott (1995), p. 76</ref>{{blockquote|''This elegant establishment, which is entirely new with all its furniture and other arrangements, is in the centre of business and contiguous to the banks, and the post office is attached to the premises. All the stages start from the door.''}}

In 1822, Early petitioned to have the elevated bridge built across Bay Lane to a building facing Bryan Street.<ref name="bell" /> It is still there today.<ref>[https://www.google.com/maps/@32.0808405,-81.0924436,3a,75y,104.85h,90.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4_tdw6m72hF-S7EhRSREAg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en The bridge connecting the building to one that fronts onto Bryan Street] - Google Street View</ref> An ill-advised hotel venture on Tybee Island eventually led to Byrd falling behind on his rent to Early. As a result, in 1825, the Savannah sheriff advertised the sale of hotel furnishings. Although Byrd foundered, the hotel survived.<ref name="bell" />

In April 1825, the hotel was sold, "at public outcry", in front of the Savannah Cotton Exchange. Early had lost the property to the Bank of Darien.<ref name="bell" />

=== Later life === [[File:Rep George Sydney Hawkins.jpg|thumb|Early's adopted daughter, Jane Louisa, married George Sydney Hawkins in 1832]] In 1822, Early began a tour of the United States in support of William H. Crawford's run for presidency.<ref name=":0" />

After his labors in support for Andrew Jackson, Early became the second librarian of the House of Representatives,<ref name=":1" /> formerly of the State of Georgia, in 1834.<ref name=":1" /> According to his obituary in ''The Baltimore Sun'', "he was rarely seen in the Hall of the House of Representatives, and was generally found in his office, leading a life of seclusion."<ref name=":0" />

Early was living in Jackson County, Florida, in 1830.

==Death== Early died in 1840, aged 60 or 61, while in Washington, D.C. The funeral was held in the home of an Ann Sprigg, widow of Benjamin Sprigg, on June 30. He was interred in Congressional Cemetery in the capital. His wife predeceased him by fourteen years.<ref name=":1" /> Their foster child, Jane, to whom Early's wife had left her entire estate, died in 1834, two years after marrying George Sydney Hawkins.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

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==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Early, Eleazer}} Category:1779 births Category:1840 deaths Category:People from Orange County, Virginia Category:People from Charleston, South Carolina Category:People from Savannah, Georgia Category:American hoteliers Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:American businesspeople in the real estate industry