John Early (educator)

Seeking to become a priest,[5] Early enrolled at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, the following September to study rhetoric. In February 1834, he advanced to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.,[4] where he remained until August, 23, 1834,[6] when he entered the Society of Jesus, and proceeded to the novitiate in Frederick, Maryland. Upon the completion of his noviceship in 1836, Early returned to Georgetown for the next nine years to study philosophy and theology. While studying, he also taught and was head prefect during the academic year of 1843 to 1844.[4]

On July 1, 1845,[7] Early was ordained a priest at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown. He then taught philosophy at Georgetown for two years, and ministered as a missionary in Laurel, Maryland. He spent 1847 ministering at Old St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia.[4] On September 8, 1853, he professed his final vows.[6]

In 1852, the Sulpician priests who ran St. Mary's Seminary and College in Baltimore decided that they would discontinue the college, which educated lay students, and focus only on the seminary. They asked the Jesuits to continue educating the laity in the city. Therefore, the Jesuits went to Baltimore and established Loyola College in Maryland on September 15, 1852, in two rented houses on Holliday Street.[16] Early was appointed the school's first president.[17] The Maryland General Assembly granted Loyola College a charter in April 1853.[16] At the same time as the college's founding, St. Ignatius Church was founded next door. Early became its first pastor, and construction of the new church began in August 1855. It was consecrated on August 15, 1856.[18]

Two years after its founding, the college purchased a plot of land on the corner of North Calvert and Madison Streets. Construction of a college building was completed in February 1855, and the college officially relocated to the new campus on February 22.[17] Being called to Georgetown University, Early's tenure as president came to an end in the autumn of 1858,[19] and he was succeeded by William Francis Clarke.[20]

Early was once again appointed president of Loyola College in the summer of 1866,[21] to replace Anthony F. Ciampi.[22] He also again became pastor of St. Ignatius Church.[18] The college fared well during his leadership. While there had been a pause in the conferral of degrees on students, Early saw that students completed their course of study and received degrees. The Loyola Dramatic Association, which was founded in 1865, and was especially active during his term.[23] After four years, his presidency came to an end in July 1870, when he again returned to Georgetown.[24] He was succeeded at Loyola by Edward Henchy,[22] and at St. Ignatius by Stephen A. Kelly.[18]

Early was appointed to succeed Bernard A. Maguire as president of Georgetown University in 1858. He took office during a time of great national tension, preceding the Civil War.[25] Soon thereafter, he received notice from the College of William & Mary that its library had been destroyed by fire; Early donated a case of 100 books to aid it in rebuilding.[26] In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States, and the southern states seceded from the Union. At the start of the academic year of 1861, many southern students left the college for their homes,[27] followed by northern students doing the same.[28] Though it looked doubtful that the college would be able to continue operating,[28] Georgetown endured as an active school, carrying on with classes throughout the Civil War for the few remaining students.[5]

On May 4, 1861, Early was notified that the college would be commandeered by the 69th Regiment of the New York National Guard,[28] which remained until May 24. Shortly thereafter, he was again informed that the school would be occupied by the 79th New York Regiment, which remained from June 3 to July 4.[29] The college was occupied for a third time on August 29, as a hospital for the soldiers of General John Pope's army wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run.[30] Due to the many wounded, Holy Trinity Church was also commandeered. The campus remained as a military hospital until February 2, 1863.[31]

Early's term as president came to an end in 1865, and he was succeeded by his predecessor, Bernard A. Maguire, on January 1, 1866.[4] Early then went to Boston, where he engaged in missionary work until July of that year.[4]

Early returned to Georgetown as president on July 14, 1870, to replace Bernard A. Maguire.[32][33] Following King Victor Emmanuel II's invasion of Rome, the students held a meeting to denounce the invasion as an indignity to the pope,[32] and voted to contribute a Peter's Pence to the pontiff.[34] The university's Law Department had been established at the end of Maguire's presidency, and it began its first classes in October 1870.[35] In 1871, the student body once again raised a sum of money to aid the victims of the Great Chicago Fire.[36] The Georgetown College Journal began publishing in December 1872,[37] as the university's first student-produced newspaper.[38]

That year, Early began to experience the effects of a disease of his kidneys, which affected his eyesight.[4][39] As a result, the vice president, Patrick Francis Healy, largely took over the administration of the university; Healy would later succeed Early as president.[40] On May 22, 1873, Early suffered a stroke,[4] which left him unable to speak and half his body paralyzed. Two days later, he died.[2] It was estimated that 5,000 people attended his funeral, and he was buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery at Georgetown.[4][24]