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Source:
HISTORY of the
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
and
BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
of the
SACRAMENTO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.
An Historical Story of the State's Marvelous Growth from Its
Earliest Settlement to the Present Time.
By
Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M.,
Author of A History of Los Angeles and Vicinity, History of Southern
California,
Secretary and Curator of the Historical Society of Southern
California,
Member of the American Historical Association, Washington, D. C.
ALSO
Containing Biographies of Well-Known Citizens
of the Past and Present.
--
The Chapman Publishing Co.
Chicago
1906
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PETER
ASBURY EARP. The varied
experiences which have filled the greater part of the
life of Peter Asbury Earp, one of Colusa county's
oldest settlers, make of him an entertaining link in the
chain which leads back to the pioneer days of the state.
He has been an eye-witness of changes which have come
with the passing years and with the enterprise and
unselfish spirit which actuated the settlers of that
early day, has also given his personal efforts to the
upbuilding and development of the natural resources of
the section in which he has been located for so long a
time. A native of Kentucky, he was born in Ohio
county, Sept. 12, 1835, the oldest of eighteen children
and the only one who is located in California. He
is the representative of a southern family of
prominence, his great-grandfather, Philip Earp,
being a native of Virginia, from which colony he served
in the Revolutionary war. A son, Walter Earp,
also a native of Virginia, located in young manhood in
North Carolina, thence removing in 1814 to Ohio county,
Ky. The record of this trip has been preserved in
the family annals, as it is indicative of the hardships
and privations the early pioneers endured, all the
household goods that were taken being conveyed on one
packhorse, while the family walked the entire distance.
From day to day they preserved their live-coals for
fire, stopping at times to revive them before they were
ready to start a fire. The trip was made in safety
and after their arrival in the state Mr. Earp
located his family in Ohio county. He was a school
teacher by profession and was occupied for many years in
the primitive schools of the middle west. In 1846
he removed to Monmouth, Warren county, Ill., where his
death occurred at the age of sixty-eight years.
One of the pioneer experiences of the family was the
baking of bread in Kentucky on a large flat rock, while
their corn was ground in a hand-mill.
A son of Walter Earp, Lorenzo D., a native of
North Carolina, attained manhood in his Kentucky home,
whence he immigrated to Warren county, Ill., in 1846.
He made that location his home until 1853, when he
removed to Jasper county, Iowa, and engaged in farming
until his death, in the fall of 1893, at the age of
eighty-four years. He became prominent in public
affairs, serving as justice of the peace and post master
of Galesburg, Iowa. In his religious convictions a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, politically he
was a stanch Republican and during the Civil war was
active in his efforts to raise troops for the Union
army. He was twice married, his first wife being
Nancy Storm, a native of Kentucky.
Her grandfather, John Storm, was a native
of Virginia, whence he immigrated to Kentucky at the
time that state was appropriately called the "dark and
bloody ground." While hunting near Louisville, he
was taken prisoner by the Indians, who took him into
Indiana, holding him prisoner for two years, during
which period they learned to trust him. His
boldness won him life and freedom and the Indians made
him a chief, allowing him to go hunting. Watching
his chance he escaped across the Ohio river, to his home
in Kentucky, where he lived the remainder of his life
quietly. His son, Peter Storm, a
native of Kentucky, married Ann Maria Souders, a
native of Maryland and the descendant of an old family.
Their daughter, Nancy Earp, died in Illinois,
after which her husband again married. He had
eighteen children, nine by the first wife and nine by
the second, of whom six sons and five daughters are now
living.
Until he was eleven years old Peter Asbury Earp
was reared in his native state, when he accompanied his
parents to Illinois. He received his education in
both the free and subscription schools of the two states
and at the same time was trained in the practical duties
of a farmer. In 1853 he accompanied his father to
Iowa, where he assisted on the paternal farm until
attaining his majority, when he sought employment among
the neighboring farmers, at the age of nineteen years
having received the best wages offered in the country,
$19 per month, the usual remuneration being $12 or $13.
Not satisfied with the returns from his labor, and
attracted by the brilliant tales told of the
opportunities presented by Pike's Peak, he, with three
comrades, outfitted with three yoke of oxen and
provisions, and on May 11, 1859, set out for the west.
Before reaching the boundary of their home state they
met parties returning, who said there was nothing to be
gained by a trip to Colorado. Through the
representations of a man they met they were induced to
go to California, the trip being made in safety and
occupying about six months, arriving in Hangtown, now
Placerville, Sept. 2, 1859. Mr. Earp did
not seek his fortunes in the gold mines, as he was the
eye-witness of too many failures in this direction, but
instead secured employment where he was offered $40 per
month. Failing to collect his money, he left the
mountains and coming to the valley sought employment in
a different line. He was accompanied by a friend
and from Friday until Sunday the two lived on $2.50, all
the money they had. Mr. Earp secured
employment with Riley Day, whose ranch was
located just across the river from the property now
owned by Mr. Earp. There he worked
for ten days, when he bought and began the making of
cord wood. This he continued to sell to the boats
on the river until February, 1863, when he bought a part
of his present ranch of one hundred and sixty acres in
Colusa county, where he had visited for a time in the
previous year. He then began farming operations
and the improvement of his property, made fences, built
a comfortable residence, barns and outbuildings,
improvements which places his ranch in the front ranks
of those in this section. For some time he has
been extensively interested in the raising of fruit,
having planted thirty-five acres to apples, peaches,
prunes, apricots, etc., while the balance of the
property is devoted to the raising of hay and pasture
lands. He also has an apiary which is a means of
considerable profit.
In 1864. in the vicinity of Grimes, Colusa county,
Mr. Earp was united in marriage with Martha
Helton, a native of Missouri, whose death occurred
in 1889. They became the parents of eight
children, namely: William H., a farmer in Sutter
county; Walter L., a resident of Grimes, Colusa
county; George W., at home; James F., a
farmer in Sutter County; Nancy Maria, the wife of
John Starnater, of Grimes; Mary A., the
wife of John Messick, of Sycamore; Emma J.,
the wife of Robert McMahon, of Oroville, Butte
county; and Bertha E., at home. Mr. Earp
has always taken an active part in all public affairs,
serving for the past twenty years as director of the
Sycamore district. He was also active in
temperance circles and for many years has been a member
of the Independent Order of Good Templars.
Politically he is a stanch adherent of the principles
advocated in the platform of the Republican party.
Since 1860 he has been a member of the Christian Church
at Dry Slough, where he is now acting as elder.
For twenty years he was the superintendent of the Sunday
school and was always faithful in the discharge of all
duties connected with his office or his place as a
member of the church. He enjoys to an exceptional
degree the esteem and confidence of the citizens with
whom he has been associated for so many years and
numbers his friends as liberally as his acquaintances.
~ Source: History of the State of California
and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Publ. 1906 -
Page 298
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