Col. Cullin Redwine Earp

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26566115/cullin-redwine-earp

I think this is our family. According to my records Cullin Earp (b circa 1763) was the father of James (b 1798), William (b circa 1800), and Benjamin Earp.

William had a son name Cullin R. Earp. So that would make him Louisa's first cousin.

According to something Faye gave me, Cullin R. Earp was born Aug 8, 1828, and married Harriett E. Fenlaw. He enlisted as a Private on May 6, 1847 in Alabama, into Capt. Clay's Company "H", 13th Infantry, U. S. Army. He was in Upshur County, Tx in 1861, in Company 10, Texas Dismounted Cavalry under Capt. Alex Earp, his brother. He was made a Colonel in March 1863 in Ector's Brigade, in Company 10, Texas Dismounted Cavalry. He was killed while on duty on Feb 8, 1865 and is buried in the Earp Cemetery near Gilmer. Another note says he was buried in the Old East Mountain Cemetery in Upshur County.

Strangley, another notation from another source says he did not have any children. I think I need to call Faye and see what she knows about it.

Mary

I called Faye and John and Vicki are there but are leaving today, so she will pull her files and see what she has. Maybe tomorrow.

According to a book I have on the history of Upshur County, it says Capt. Cullin Earp had 3 sons (James, William and Benjamin).

William (B circa 1800) married Matilda Watkins, then Betsy Vaughan. Their children were:

   * Afrha,

* Sarah,
* Benjamin P.,
* Cullin R (b 8-8-1826) ---(this is the Col. Cullin R Earp)
* Richard W.,
* James S.,
* Charles Alexander (b 8-10-1832) This is Capt. Alex Earp. His children were James, Elizabeth, John Benjamin, and Aphra Viana.
* 2 unknown males,
* Viana, and
* William A (B 1-8-1837). (I suspect this is the William A. that this lady is a descendant of.)
Betsy died in and in 1837 William married his 3rd wife, Hannah Parker. Their children were:

   *  John Thomas,

* Elizabeth, and
* Henry.
I'll see if Faye can find out more information about this thing this lady wrote to you.

Mary

Civil War Col. Cullin Earp exhumed for relocation

By DAVE ELLISON

Except to a few, the old Confederate has been long-forgotten. The last testament to his existence is a severely deteriorated marker where he was laid to rest in southwest Upshur County more than a century ago, at a site now obscured by a grove of trees in a desolate cemetery on private land. Only the property owner’s kind but sporadic care has prevented nature from totally reclaiming the location.

Today, no one recalls the last time that even a distant relative — or anyone, for that matter — put flowers on the grave of Col. Cullin Redwine Earp, once the respected commander of the 10th Texas Cavalry CSA. Only occasionally do visitors, usually Civil War history buffs, stop by to pay their respects. In a sense, Col. Earp is Upshur County’s unknown soldier.

But that soon will change, thanks largely to a persevering East Texan dedicated to ensuring that the aged warrior and his accomplishments are remembered.

“He deserves better than to be stuck off in an isolated, unattended cemetery and basically forgotten,” said Gilmer’s Bill Starnes, a Civil War historian determined to bring renewed recognition to the cavalry colonel.

After securing the required governmental and landowner approvals Starnes, a past president of the Upshur Country Historical Commission, led meticulous efforts Saturday to exhume Earp’s remains for relocation to the perpetual-care Hopewell Cemetery near FM 1795 and FM 49 in Upshur County.

Col. Earp (pronounced “Arp”) was just 37 years old when he died in 1865. As a young adult in his 20s, he earned a livelihood raising crops in the Gilmer area. But during the last several years of his life, he was thrust into a military maelstrom that transformed him from a simple farmer into a respected officer and an East Texas hero.

From 1862 through 1864, Col. Earp and his 10th Texas Calvary CSA participated in at least 21 Civil War battles or engagements, a number of which resulted in massive casualties on both sides. As part of the famed Ector’s Brigade, Earp commanded 10th Texas troops at clashes throughout the Deep South, including Vicksburg, Miss.; the bloody battle of Chickamauga, Ga.; the Atlanta, Ga. Siege; and the battle of Franklin, Tenn.

Given a 3-month furlough, he returned to Upshur County in February 1865, likely sick or wounded. In April, Lee surrendered to Grant, ending the Civil War and Earp’s military service. Six months later, he died, survived by his second wife but no children.

Now, after almost 143 years, a new chapter in the life of Col. Earp is emerging, this one being created by Starnes and other admirers of the Civil War stalwart.

“We actually had no idea what we would find inside the grave,” explained Starnes, who was aided in last Saturday’s disinterment by members of the Upshur County Patriots-Camp 2109, a Gilmer-based group affiliated with the Sons of the Confederacy national organization. “I had heard some time back that Col. Earp’s remains were moved years earlier, to keep vandals from looting the grave of Civil War items that could have been buried with him.”

Also on hand during the search was a representative of Croley Funeral Home in Gilmer, the repository for any remains until commencement of elaborate reinterment observances — all open to the public — in late April.

“Out of respect for Col. Earp and his surroundings, we decided to keep the exhumation as private as possible,” said Starnes, a past commander of the Upshur County Patriots and owner of Hadden’s Sandwich Shop in Gilmer. “We definitely could not chance having a large crowd of spectators possibly compromising the solemnity of the occasion.”

Unfortunately, the 30-plus-person search team found evidence that Col. Earp’s grave had indeed been vandalized, sometime between 1967 and 1997, speculated Starnes, his opinion based on the dates of two pennies and a metal beverage container found at depths of three to five feet.

Earp’s sword, watch and uniform buttons were not located, likely taken by the vandals, said Starnes. Volunteers, however, did discover a few skeletal remains, two coffin nails and coffin hardware. The exhumation took nearly six hours and was halted after reaching a depth of slightly more than six feet.

Earp’s shattered tombstone will be repaired and replaced at the Hopewell Cemetery site.

“In a way, it was a little disappointing that we were unable to find any more than we did,” said Starnes. “Still, our endeavor was very successful from the standpoint that we found enough remains to make his reinterment particularly meaningful.”

Earp’s reburial ceremonies will begin April 25, when a new, intricately carved coffin containing his remains and “sacred soil” from his gravesite is transferred for public viewing to one of the county’s oldest existing structures, a log cabin built in 1849 and located about three blocks from downtown Gilmer.

“Col. Earp — who also once served in the Texas State Troops, forerunners of the Texas Rangers — had land adjacent to the cabin and more than likely visited the owners from time to time,” said Starnes.

The coffin and its contents will be attended throughout the day and night by an honor guard dressed in period-authentic Confederate uniforms.

The next morning, Saturday, a horse-drawn caisson draped with handmade 10th Texas Cavalry flags will transport Earp’s coffin to Gilmer’s courthouse square for a special funeral service and verbal tributes. The procession will be accompanied by a color guard and band playing music popular in the 1860s, along with dozens of mounted Confederate cavalry reenactors from throughout Texas.

“We could have 100 or more riders,” said Starnes. Saturday afternoon, a similar procession will travel to Hopewell Cemetery for Earp’s reinterment.

“It has been a long time in coming, but Col. Earp is finally going to get the credit and appreciation he is due,” declared Starnes. “And in his new official resting place near his brother (also a Confederate veteran and once an Upshur County sheriff), the chances are pretty good that the brave old soldier won’t vanish completely from the public memory.”