Earle was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
 Grandson of noted abolitionist and philanthropist, Thomas Earle, Grandson of notable American Revolutionary War Officer Samuel Van Leer and only son to Philadelphia lawyer George H. Earle Sr.
and Mrs. Frances ("Fanny") Van Leer Earle,  he gained notoriety for his abilities as a "business doctor"—having turned around many organizations from the brink of financial ruin after being appointed as receiver and reorganizer.
 A Harvard University graduate (1879), Earle became a member of the Philadelphia bar—following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps—practicing his trade as a lawyer in the firm of Earle & White in Philadelphia.
 But Earle would soon forsake the practice of law "save as a useful medicament to be employed in the cure of invalid companies, and as a study for the little indoor leisure that business leaves him."
 He would be appointed as president and director to nearly two dozen Philadelphia companies and corporations.
 Mr. Earle married Catharine H. French on 12 December 1881, two years after he graduated from Harvard.
 It was his desire to marry Miss French after he began earning at least five dollars a week, and his starting weekly salary at an attorney's office just fresh from college was only $2.50.
 They would have ten children in all, to include George Howard Earle III—former Governor (1935–1939) of Pennsylvania.

Along with his father, Earle was a member of the Committee of One Hundred (Philadelphia)—"a non-partisan effort in aid of good government" dedicated to ending bossism politics in Philadelphia in the late 1800s.
 This committee of reformers, consisting initially of Independent Republicans "seeking to reform the management of the Republican party," would eventually lose influence and effectiveness.
 According to When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia (McCafferty, 1993), among proposed reasons for their ineffectiveness was the resulting "division between reformers over the question of partisanship," "poor organization and their dislike of political activism," and the fact that it was "a self-constituted body that conducted political affairs in an autocratic manner," geographically isolated from the "bulk of the city's population"—Mr.
Earle himself later remarked that it had been "essentially aristocratic in temperament."
 Despite the committee's failure to bring about a lasting, broad-scale influence in the city, Mr. Earle would continue to speak up for good government practices, and for the protection of political liberty for all Americans.

On October 3, 1896, at a Republican meeting in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, Earle urged his "fellow citizens" to vote for McKinley over Bryan, stating:
...a false prophet has come among you... who, in a country where all are in the highest class—that of the American citizens—tries to divide us into many, and then set those classes against each other; who tries to set State against State, section against section, and so nullify the great work for which Abraham Lincoln gave his life; who tries to lead us into paths of dishonor and asks us to disgrace the country for which we would give our lives...
It would not be the last time Earle would warn about the threat of populism.
 In a letter to Pennsylvania Governor Samuel Pennypacker on May 16, 1906, Earle wrote of his concern that then President Theodore Roosevelt might be yielding to the latest "craze" of "Bryanism"—i.e.,
yielding to populism instead of standing on principle with regard to public policy—serving to discredit the Republican party:
...some one has to speak in favor of the right when so speaking is unpopular.
The more unpopular, the greater the necessity... The Republican party has done much for this country.
It has often created and preserved prosperity by fighting crazes.
For the first time in its history, it is yielding to one.
If it would only say "we have made this prosperity, it is our child, and shall have our protection," and stand to its guns, it will beat Bryanism to death as it always has.
But with its leader caring more for popularity than principle, co
Earle was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Grandson of noted abolitionist and philanthropist, Thomas Earle, Grandson of notable American Revolutionary War Officer Samuel Van Leer and only son to Philadelphia lawyer George H. Earle Sr. and Mrs. Frances ("Fanny") Van Leer Earle,  he gained notoriety for his abilities as a "business doctor"—having turned around many organizations from the brink of financial ruin after being appointed as receiver and reorganizer.  A Harvard University graduate (1879), Earle became a member of the Philadelphia bar—following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps—practicing his trade as a lawyer in the firm of Earle & White in Philadelphia.  But Earle would soon forsake the practice of law "save as a useful medicament to be employed in the cure of invalid companies, and as a study for the little indoor leisure that business leaves him."  He would be appointed as president and director to nearly two dozen Philadelphia companies and corporations.  Mr. Earle married Catharine H. French on 12 December 1881, two years after he graduated from Harvard.  It was his desire to marry Miss French after he began earning at least five dollars a week, and his starting weekly salary at an attorney's office just fresh from college was only $2.50.  They would have ten children in all, to include George Howard Earle III—former Governor (1935–1939) of Pennsylvania.
Along with his father, Earle was a member of the Committee of One Hundred (Philadelphia)—"a non-partisan effort in aid of good government" dedicated to ending bossism politics in Philadelphia in the late 1800s.  This committee of reformers, consisting initially of Independent Republicans "seeking to reform the management of the Republican party," would eventually lose influence and effectiveness.  According to When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia (McCafferty, 1993), among proposed reasons for their ineffectiveness was the resulting "division between reformers over the question of partisanship," "poor organization and their dislike of political activism," and the fact that it was "a self-constituted body that conducted political affairs in an autocratic manner," geographically isolated from the "bulk of the city's population"—Mr. Earle himself later remarked that it had been "essentially aristocratic in temperament."  Despite the committee's failure to bring about a lasting, broad-scale influence in the city, Mr. Earle would continue to speak up for good government practices, and for the protection of political liberty for all Americans.
On October 3, 1896, at a Republican meeting in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, Earle urged his "fellow citizens" to vote for McKinley over Bryan, stating:
...a false prophet has come among you... who, in a country where all are in the highest class—that of the American citizens—tries to divide us into many, and then set those classes against each other; who tries to set State against State, section against section, and so nullify the great work for which Abraham Lincoln gave his life; who tries to lead us into paths of dishonor and asks us to disgrace the country for which we would give our lives...
It would not be the last time Earle would warn about the threat of populism.  In a letter to Pennsylvania Governor Samuel Pennypacker on May 16, 1906, Earle wrote of his concern that then President Theodore Roosevelt might be yielding to the latest "craze" of "Bryanism"—i.e., yielding to populism instead of standing on principle with regard to public policy—serving to discredit the Republican party:
...some one has to speak in favor of the right when so speaking is unpopular. The more unpopular, the greater the necessity... The Republican party has done much for this country. It has often created and preserved prosperity by fighting crazes. For the first time in its history, it is yielding to one. If it would only say "we have made this prosperity, it is our child, and shall have our protection," and stand to its guns, it will beat Bryanism to death as it always has. But with its leader caring more for popularity than principle, co
George Howard Earle Jr.