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Anna Earp
(1830-1860+), wife of William Allen Broyhill |
Ann Earp, sometimes called "Anna,"
"Annie," and "Nellie," married William Allen
Broyhill in Wilkes County, NC on Nov. 16, 1848. |
Ancient
Earps |
The name Earp is listed in numerous studies of English
surnames but authorities do not agree on its exact origin and
meaning. Several maintain that it is old English, describing
personal appearance, and means "dark", "dusky", or
"swarthy". The fullest, most interesting explanation
which was found under the spelling Erp, follows: |
A common personal name in Pictland, Erp, Yrp,
appears as the name of a Welsh king. The name was borrowed
from the Pict by the Norsemen and given name to the Icelandic
family of Erplingi. Erp, son of Meldun, a Scots Earl was
captured by the Norsemen and as a free man went to colonize
Iceland by the end of the ninth century. Erp is the Gaelic
equivalent of the name. |
|
Regardless of the origin, and exact
meaning, there is little doubt that it is an English name and family
which date back many centuries. The earliest record found was the
marriage of William Erpe in London Town in the year 1561 ?. There
are many Earps living in England today, some near Stratford-on-Avon, the
home of Shakespeare. Several Earps of England have been very
prominent people and their works are found in the Library of
Congress. There is also a sprinkling of Earps today in Canada, the
Union of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. |
Early
Earp Immigration |
The Earps came early to the American
Colonies. Some came first to the Maryland colony in the 1680's and
1690's. There were some who came early to the South Carolina
colony. "August 10, 1669, landing in Charleston names known
as Mrs. Sarah Erpe [Editor-This spelling could be 'Erps'],
Elizabeth Erpe, and Mrs. Mary Erpe." There are other records
of these later in the colony. Another group located in Wake and
Johnson counties in North Carolina. Many still live there
today. Another family located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
coming from Leicistarshire [Editor - illegible], England, in 1794.
Earp Street in Philadelphia was named for this family. During the
Civil War, there was a town named Earpsboro in North Carolina.
During the War of Independence,
many Earps served in the Colonial Army, some in the War of 1812.
In the Civil War, the author has record of some 200 Earps who served in
that great war. The Earps were mostly Southern, but some did wear
the blue of the Northern Army. It appears that some Earps had
branched off before the War moving to Illinois and Iowa. One of
the most interesting of the Southern Earps was a Colonel Cullen
R. Earp, who lead the 10th Texas Regiment in several important
battles of the War. It is assumed that most, if not all, of the
Earps in America are related and the author hopes to do more research on
this. |
Thomas
Earpe Jr. (1650??-1719+)
Immigrant Ancestor |
Our first known ancestor in America
was Thomas Earps [Editor - could be "Earpe"], who came as an
indentured servant to Maryland. According to some information
could have first come to South Carolina with the above mentioned Earpe
[Editor - could be "Earps"], landing in South Carolina, and
then to Maryland, since South Carolina was not too well settled by that
time.
This Thomas Earp is
listed as "junior", so it is safe to assume that his father
was also named Thomas, but may have died in England, and the above
Sarah, or Elizabeth or Mary was a widow and mother of Thomas Jr.
Thomas Earp Jr. was born about 1650,
apparently in England and died around the year 1720. He owned land
around the present city of Baltimore in the 1690's. It must be
emphasized that records were scare at this time. No vital
statistics were kept by the authorities as we know them today. No
marriage licenses were issued until 1775 and we have to resort to church
records which are far from being complete. Some churches did
record baptisms, marriages, burials, etc. Colonial
education was virtually unknown and most colonists could neither read
nor write and therefore repeated their names verbally for records.
Some court clerks wrote it down as he heard it and this often resulted
in the most unusual phonetic spellings. This resulted in such
spellings of Earp as: Arp, Arpe, Aerp, Harpe, Harp, Yarp, Erps,
Erp, and Earpe. At times it is almost impossible to unscramble
some records and keep from getting into the wrong line.
Thomas lived on the
Patapsco River in Maryland, a few miles northwest of the present site of
Baltimore, Maryland, as numerous records attest. We are almost
sure he came from England, as many colonists did indentured to work for
some other person for a period of years in return for his passage
payment, but this is only a conjecture. He witnessed a will in 1698
and is mentioned in court records of 1700 and 1707. In 1716, he
filed an application by patent from the colonial proprietor for a 100
acre tract of land listed as "Lurgen" or "Lilngen".
In 1719, Thomas Earp signed a petition to the provincial court regarding
road rights along with other inhabitants from both sides of the river.
An interesting sidelight is the fact that
another signer was one Jon Peddicord(Petticoat) and that the only known
Revolutionary soldier from this area named Earp was one Peddicord
(Petticoat) Earp, thus strongly indicating there was a marriage link
here between Earps and Peddicords. We believe Thomas Earp married
a Peddicord girl.
He had at least two
sons. One of them, Joseph Earp, was the subject of a genealogy
written by Charles A. Earp of Baltimore - apparently his
descendent. The other known son is the John Earp listed below. |
John
Earp (1650??-1720?)
son of Thomas Earp Jr. |
John was the progenitor of the
Earps, who settled along the Potomac River in Virginia, Fairfax
County. He married a woman named Rebecca ________ and had known
sons as follows: Henry, Thomas, America, Joseph and William.
In 1719, he patented a large farm known as
Macklams Friendship near his father's place in Maryland and paid rent to
the colonial proprietor along with the brother Joseph. He sold
these properties in 1728 and moved to Virginia. John Earp's will
was probated in 1745. |
Joshua
Earp (1706-1771)
son of John Earp |
The name Joshua is sometimes
called Joseph, but is believed to have been Joshua Earp. Joshua
Earp apparently followed his father to the Potomac River area because he
sold his property in 1737, and bought land in Virginia. He married
Mary Budd and had at least three children. Joshua apparently died
in 1771, as records indicate. His widow, Mary Earp, was listed in
Virginia Census as still living in 1785. Three Known sons: |
William Earp.
Born 1729 and married Priscilla Nicholas. He was the progenitor
of the Wyatt Earp families. His descendants hold an annual
family reunion the first Sunday in August each year at Andrews,
Texas.
Caleb Earp. Born 1754,
but apparently never married and ran a drug store in Alexandria,
Va. during the Revolutionary War. It is said that he
provided medicine to George Washington. He died in 1800
and left his property to his only living brother, Matthew Earp,
"Earps Ordinary" or Inn.
Matthew Earp. Born
about 1736. See below. |
|
Matthew
Earp (1736-1808)
son of Joseph (Josuha Earp) |
Matthew was born about 1736,
son of Joseph (Joshua) and Mary Earp and was brother to the above
mentioned William and Caleb Earp. He lived near Little Falls a
suburb of Alexandria, Va. He apparently owned large amount of land
as he was mentioned very frequently in Fairfax County Courts as land
owner, jury service, witness, etc. He served in the Revolutionary
as Sergeant Major in 10th NC - Va Regiment.
He married a woman named Anna. One family historian
states that her last name may have been Herndon. ----. Her
last name may have been Herndon. However the IGI Family Record
sheet names her as Anna Dunlap. They married about 1756. It
is believed that they had twelve children. He was probably a very
religious man since all his children had Biblical names. A
conjecture is that he joined the Methodist Church. His oldest son
was Methodist Missionary to South Carolina. In 1782, he was
appointed State Tobacco Inspector at Little Falls Warehouse, Va.
The IGI Family Record sheet lists seven children. |
Daniel Earp |
1757-1815 |
James Earp |
1759- |
Christina Earp |
1760- |
Abendnego Earp |
1763-1844 |
Joel Earp |
1764- |
Simon Earp |
1766 |
Caleb Earp |
1768 |
|
Abendnego
Earp (1763-1844)
son of Matthew Earp |
Abendnego was the son of
Matthew and Anna Earp. On Oct. 15, 1834, he made his Revolutionary
War Pension Application in Wilkes County, NC. (No. W.3529 -
the "W" prefix denotes a widow's pension. His second
wife, Susannah, made the application on Feb. 21, 1853.
In his original application, Abendnego stated that
he was born in Fairfax County, Virginia in 1763, and
that he enlisted at Alexandria, Va., and marched to Hillsboro, S.C.,
where his unit joined other troops after the ill fated Battle of
Camden. After the War, he settled in Pittsylvania County,
Virginia. He was married twice.
Abendengo moved his
family to Wilkes County, North Carolina. On March 9, 1804 he
purchased from Jacob Hagaler 200 acress on the middle fork of Moravian
Creek adjacent John Trible. [DB F-1, p. 66]. On Nov.
11, 1805, he purchased 200 acres from from Joel Hampton, also on the
middle fork of Moravian Creek. [DB F-1, p. 386].
Abendengo was the grandfather of Ann Earp, who
married William Broyhill, grandson of James Broyhill. Both
Abendengo and James served at the Battle of Camden during the
Revolutionary War. After the war, both lived in Pittsylvania
County, Virginia, both migrated with their familes around 1804 and the
1810 census shows they lived very close to one another.
In her letters of the
late 1960's, Mrs. Head stated that her Hampton ancestors were also
from Pittsylvania County and settled on Cub Creek in Wilkes
County. Two of James Broyhill's daughters married Hampton men and
Mrs. Head suggested that the two families may have been quite close,
perhaps moving to Wilkes together from Pittsylvania. It is
interesting that Abendengo Earp purchased land from a Hampton in 1805.
All of this suggests that the three families -
Broyhill, Earp and Hampton - and perhaps others, migrated from
Pittsylvania County, Virginia to Wilkes County, NC together. In
any event, it seems likely that Abendnego Earp and James Broyhill spent many a lazy hour swapping "war stories."
His first wife was Elizabeth
Wright, daughter of Thomas Wright. They were married in
Pittsylvania County, Virginia on May 22, 1793. She was the mother
of all his children. He married Susannah Montgomery in Wilkes
County on Sept. 2, 1828.
On the 1840 Wilkes County Census he is listed
as age 82, and a Revolutionary War Pensioner. He died in Wilkes
County on Dec. 17, 1844. His will [WB4, p 304-305] was probated in
May of 1845. It names his wife Susannah the twelve children named
below. The comments about each were provided by Mrs. W.O. Absher,
a Wilkes County genealogist. |
Hanna Earp |
|
Married John Hubbard in 1817 |
Thomas Earp |
1794- |
Married Ann Land in 1816. |
Abendnego Earp Jr. |
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Married Nancy Gray in 1817 |
Mary Earp |
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Married a Grayson |
James Earp |
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Married Ann Gray in 1819 |
Caleb Earp |
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Married Mariah Watts in 1825 |
Martha Earp |
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Married Alfred Davidson in 1822. |
Wright (Lane) Earp |
1806- |
Married Susan Wellborn in
1833,
Married Frances Wellborn in 1836 |
Elizabeth Earp |
1807??-1860 |
Married Jessie Oliver |
Emily Earp |
1808- |
Married Benjamine Kilby in 1827. |
Caroline Earp |
|
Married William S. Kilby. |
Martin Stokes Earp |
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Married Rachel Barnes in 1832. |
|
Thomas
Earp (1794-1830+)
son of Abendnego Earp |
Thomas Earp is listed on the 1850 Federal
Census for Wilkes County, NC as age 57. Thus he was born about
1793, when his parents lived in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. He moved
with them to Wilkes County, NC in or before 1805.
He married Ann Land in Wilkes County on Feb.
19, 1816. On the 1820 census his household contains 1 male age
26-45, 1 female age 0-10, and 1 female age 16-26. The 1830 census
lists one male 0-5, one male 30-40, one female 0-5, one female 10-15,
one female 30-40, and one female 50-60. The 1850 Census lists his
as head of household #1766. Andrew Earp, age 21, is listed with
him. In 1860, he is head of Wilkesboro household #73 and is 68
years old. Andrew is 30. In 1870, Thomas Earp is in household
#216, Beaver Creek Township, age 80. In his household are R. Earp,
a female age 80 and black and Jesse Earp, male, age 14 and black.
According to a deed dated Jan. 11, 1876 [DB F-3], he was married to a
woman named Dorinda.
On the 1841 school census in Warrior Creek
township Thomas Earp had three males and two females between age 5 and
21 in school. They are not named.
In 1821, Thomas Earp sold 100 acres on Warrior
Creek to William R. Noland. He signed his name to the deed,
indicating that he could read and write. In 1855, his son-in-law William
A. Broyhill sold him two tracts of land in the middle fork of Moravian
Creek.
Wilkes County genealogist Mrs. W.O. Absher
wrote that the school census cited above contained the names of six
children. Comments are by her. |
Elizabeth L.
Earp |
1818? |
Married James Hampton in 1838.
She may have later married a Birchfield and lived in
Monroe County, Tenn. |
Thomas S.
Earp |
|
Married Eleanor Pearson in 1850. |
William M.
Earp |
|
Married Anne.
Moved to Roan County, Tenn. |
Andrew W.
Earp |
1830? |
Died Unmarried? |
Ann Earp |
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Married William A. Broyhill |
Nancy Earp |
|
Married a Snead.
Moved to Monroe County, Tenn. |
|
Ann
Earp
daughter of Thomas Earp |
Ann Earp, sometimes called "Anna,"
"Annie," and "Nellie," married William Allen
Broyhill in Wilkes County, NC on Nov. 16, 1848.
For information on their family, see William
Allen Broyhill. |
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