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WALTER EARP. The descendants of the
old settlers, those who cleared the land and first upturned
the wild sod to the sun, should see that the doings of those
early years are fittingly remembered and recorded. It
was once remarked by a great writer that those who take no
interest in the deeds of their ancestors are not likely to
do anything worthy to be remembered by their descendants.
Could the lives of the first settlers be fully and
truthfully written what an interesting, thrilling and
wonderful take it would be. Think of the journey to
the west over the roughest of roads, of the hardships of
clearing the soil and the trials in establishing a home in a
wild country and rearing a family. Think of the
pioneer gatherings, of the shooting matches, the old
subscription schools, the first churches under the branches
of the trees, the camp meetings, the famous old circuit
riders, the husking matches, the quilting bees, the coon,
wolf, fox and deer hunts, with many other form of diversion,
and then presume to say that the old settlers did not live
happy lives. Such were the experiences of Walter M.
Earp, a highly respected citizen of Elk Creek township,
now living retired.
Mr. Earp is a Kentuckian by birth, having first
opened his eyes in the country of "the dark and bloody
ground," in Ohio county, on November 8, 1836. He is
the son of Lorenzo Dow Earp and Nancy Earp. He
spent his early boyhood in his native state and received
such education as he could in the pioneer log-cabin schools
In 1845 he accompanied the familly to Warren county,
Illinois, where they lived until 1853, when, with an ox team
and an old-fashioned covered wagon, they set out on the slow
journey to Warren county, Iowa, where they spent the summer,
then moved to Marion county, this state, and wintered there,
coming to Jasper county in the spring of 1854. Here
the father of the subject entered one hundred and sixty
acres in Elk Creek township, and on this Walter M. Earp
spent his young manhood, helping his father develop the
place from the wild, helping split the rails with which to
fence the farm. They had few neighbors and they
endured the usual privations of first settlers, but in time
had a good farm and a comfortable home.
The subject began life for himself by renting land,
which he continued to operate for six years and thereby got
a start. He then bought forty acres which he sold the
following year and purchased eighty acres, to which he later
added fifty-five acres more in Elk Creek township, which he
improved into an excellent farm. This he sold in 1881
and moved to Plymouth county, Iowa, ,where he remained two
years on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Then
he came back to Galesburg, Jasper county, where he has since
spent most of his time. He is now making his home with
his son-in-law, Alfred Lust, a farmer of Elk Creek
township, whose sketch appears on another page of this work.
Source: Past & Present of Jasper County, Iowa -
Illustrated - Vol. II - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Company,
Indianapolis, Ind. - 1912 - Page 727
SHARON WICK'S NOTE: Being a relative of the Earp
family, I have done extensive research on the family.
Walter M. (McKendree) Earp, married Nancy Ellen Donahue on
Sept. 21, 1861 at Marion Co., Iowa. They had a family
which included the following children: William Henry
Earp, b. 1862; Ulysses Grant Earp, b. 1864; Lilly Earp, b.
1866; James Otis Earp, b. 1868; Charles Edward Earp, b.
1871; Nancy Earp, b. 1874; John Walter Earp, b. 1877;
Catherine Earp, b. 1879; Martha Earp, b.
1881 (md. Alfred Lust); Jerry Thomas Earp, b. 1883. All born in Iowa. |
