Three of Nicholas' sons—Virgil, Wyatt, and Morgan—became well-known lawmen as a result of their part in the
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Newton Earp Newton married Nancy Jane (Jennie) Adam sometime between 1865 and 1868. They had five children.
James Earp James Cooksey Earp enlisted in the
Union Army at the outbreak of the
American Civil War. He was wounded on October 31, 1861, in a battle near
Fredericktown, Missouri, and lost the use of his left arm. He was discharged in March, 1863. Newton and Virgil served until the end of the war. He married former
prostitute Nellie "Bessie" Ketchum, in April 1873. He served briefly as a deputy marshal in
Dodge City, Kansas, under Marshal
Charlie Bassett. On December 1, 1879, he and Nellie joined his brothers Wyatt and Virgil and their wives in
Tombstone in the
Arizona Territory. He was not present at the
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881. James then lived for a short time in
Shoshone County, Idaho, until settling permanently by 1890 in California. James Earp died of natural causes in
San Bernardino, California, on January 25, 1926. He is interred there at the Mountain View Cemetery.
Virgil Earp Virgil eloped at age sixteen with 16-year-old Dutch immigrant Magdalena C. "Ellen" Rysdam (born November 25, 1842, in
Utrecht, Netherlands – died May 3, 1910, in
Cornelius, Oregon). They remained together for a year in spite of her parents' (Gerrit Rysdam and Magdalena Catrina Van Velzen) disapproval of her choice. Their daughter Nellie was born two weeks before Virgil enlisted to serve with the Union forces in the Civil War. During the war, her father told Ellen that Virgil had been killed. She remarried a Dutch man and moved to the Oregon Territory. His father, Justice of the Peace Nicholas Earp, married them. There are no further records of Rosella or their marriage. Virgil later met Alvira "Allie" Sullivan from
Florence, Nebraska, in 1874. They were never married but remained together the remainder of his life. On November 27, 1879, U.S. Marshal
Crawley Dake appointed Virgil as Deputy U.S. Marshal for the eastern portion of Pima County. He was instructed by Dake to move to Tombstone to help resolve ongoing problems with outlaw
Cowboys. But the job didn't pay much. He was mostly on call helping county and city officials. On October 30, 1880, after town marshal
Fred White was accidentally shot and killed by outlaw and gunman
"Curly Bill" Brocius, Virgil was for a while both Tombstone town marshal and Deputy U.S. Marshal. While holding these two offices Virgil, his brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday confronted the Cowboys in a narrow lot on Fremont Street. Virgil was not expecting a fight. He later testified that when he saw the Cowboys, he immediately commanded them to "Throw up your hands, I want your guns!" But general shooting broke out almost immediately. Witnesses were conflicted about who fired first. During the gunfight, Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed. Virgil was shot through the calf (he thought by Billy Clanton). Three days after the O.K. Corral gunfight, the city council suspended Virgil as city marshal pending outcome of the
preliminary hearing. Virgil was eventually exonerated of wrongdoing, but his reputation suffered thereafter. On December 28, 1881, three men hidden in the upper story of an unfinished building across Allen street from the hotel ambushed Virgil from behind as he walked from the Oriental Saloon to his room. Virgil was hit in the back and left arm by three loads of double-barreled buckshot from about . He was seriously wounded and Dr.
George E. Goodfellow was forced to remove of shattered
humerus bone from Virgil's left arm, leaving his arm permanently crippled. In 1898 Virgil was startled to receive a letter from a Mrs. Levi Law, who turned out to be his long-lost daughter who had disappeared with her mother while Virgil fought in the Civil War. He visited her and his first wife in
Portland, Oregon, in 1898. He arrived with his brothers Virgil and Morgan in Tombstone, Arizona Territory on December 1, 1879. They became embroiled in a conflict with outlaw Cowboys that led to a confrontation and shootout on October 26, 1881, later known as the
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Wyatt developed a reputation as a sportsman as well as a gambler.
Morgan Earp Morgan Seth Earp joined his brothers Virgil and Wyatt in Tombstone, Arizona Territory on December 1, 1879. He became embroiled in the conflict between the Earp lawmen and a loose federation of outlaw Cowboys. He took part in the
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and was wounded. He was charged by
Ike Clanton with murder, but during a month-long preliminary hearing, Judge
Wells Spicer ruled that they had acted within the law and dismissed the charges. Late Saturday night, March 18, 1882, Morgan was ambushed and killed after returning from a
musical at
Schieffelin Hall. He was playing a late round of
billiards at the Campbell & Hatch Billiard Parlor against owner Bob Hatch. He and the other Earp brothers had received death threats earlier in the day. The assailant shot Morgan through a window in a door that opened onto an alley between Allen and Fremont Streets. Morgan was struck in the right side and the bullet shattered his spine, passed through his left side, and lodged in the thigh of mining foreman George A.B. Berry. He died within the hour.
Adelia Earp Adelia married William Thomas Edwards in
Rice County, Kansas, in 1877. William Edwards died on May 3, 1919, in
San Bernardino County, California. Adelia and William had three children: • Nicholas Edwards • Estelle Josphine Edwards • Mary Virginia Edwards ( – 1935). == References ==