Virgil Earp
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Virgil Walter Earp (July 18, 1843 in Hartford, Kentucky - October 19, 1905 in Goldfield, Nevada) was one of the men involved in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
In February 1860, while living in Pella, Iowa, Earp eloped with Dutch immigrant Magdalena C. "Ellen" Rysdam (November 25, 1842 in Utrecht, Netherlands - May 3, 1910 in Cornelius, Oregon). They remained together for a year in spite of her parents' (Gerrit Rysdam and Magdalena Catrina Van Velzen from Utrecht) disapproval of her choice. On September 21, 1861, Virgil enlisted in the Union Army for the American Civil War, serving with the 83rd Illinois Infantry.
His enlistment was to become the last time Virgil and Ellen met each other as husband and wife. The marriage resulted in the birth of the only known child of Virgil, Nellie Jane Earp (January 7, 1862 - June 17, 1930).
In the Summer 1863, Ellen was told incorrectly that Virgil had died. She left Pella with her parents and daughter. She had remarried by the time she next met Virgil. He would not learn of the existence of his daughter until 1888.
Earp received his discharge from the military on June 26, 1865. Finding his wife and family had left Pella, Earp decided to head to California to meet up with the rest of the Earps. He married his second wife, Rosella Dragoo (b. 1853 in France), on August 28, 1870 in Lamar, Missouri. After three years of marriage, he left. Nothing is known about the outcome of the marriage. In 1874, Earp married for a third time. This time to Alvira "Allie" Packingham Sullivan (1849 in Council Bluffs, Iowa - 1947 in Los Angeles, California).
On October 30, 1880, Earp became city marshal of Tombstone, Arizona. Three days after the O.K. Corral gunfight, he and his deputy, Wyatt Earp, resigned. During the gunfight, Earp was shot in the leg. On December 28, 1881, he was ambushed. His left arm was permanently crippled due to a shotgun blast.
Earp died on October 19, 1905 from pneumonia. He was serving as the Deputy Sheriff in Esmaralda County, Nevada at the time.
External links
- A page concerning his life, family, marriages and grave (http://dannieldridge.com/virgil.html)
- A genealogical profile of him (http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gormleym/earp/b53.htm#P53)sv:Virgil Earp