My Earp family continues to surprise me when I least expect it.  I decided to continue my search for extended Earp family members who lived in Ohio, and I wasn’t disappointed.  In one of my earliest posts in 2017, I disagreed with the notion that my 4 times great-grandfather, William Earp (1790-1844) was the son of Joshua Earp and Eleanor McKinsey.  My research proved that he was the son of James Earp and Susanna Jones.  However, Joshua Earp and Eleanor McKinsey did have a son named William Earp (1793-1878) that married Ruth Wood and they moved from Baltimore, MD to Wharton (originally called Whartonsburg), Wyandot Co., OH.  These two William Earps were first cousins.

I followed the paper trail for the William Earp that moved to Wyandot Co., OH. I found the 1860 Census for Richfield Twp., Wyandot Co., OH where William Earp, his wife Ruth and children, Joseph and Edwin lived and living next door is a Joshua Earp and his family:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

The 1860 census here is very difficult to read so I’ve included the transcription from Ancestry that you can look at for any census record by clicking the “people” icon at the bottom of the screen when viewing the image of the census:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

There was also a younger William Earp living in Wyandot Co., OH at the time. Again, the 1860 Census for this county was very hard to read, so here is the transcription index:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

I suspect that this is a son of William Earp, Sr. and Ruth Wood.

William Earp, Sr., born in 1793 in Frederick, MD and married Ruth Wood in 1821 in Baltimore, moved to Wyandot Co., OH.  William Earp, Sr. died in Wyandot Co., OH in 1878 and his will was probated 28 Oct. 1879. William’s wife, Ruth, 2 children and grandchildren were named as follows:

Ruth

Richard J. Earp (son)

Wife, children and grandchildren – Ruth (wife), Joseph (son), Arthur (grandson, son of Joshua), Henry L. (grandson, son of Joshua), William (grandson, son of Joshua), Marion (grandson, son of Joshua)

Courtesy of Ancestry©

At the time of William Sr.’s death, Joshua had already passed. William’s son William Jr. is not mentioned here in the will for whatever reason.

Here is a probate record, Administrators Bonds and Letters, Vol 1-2, 1860-1895 for Joshua Earp:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Here is where the “Berks twist” as mentioned in the title of this post comes in. The probate judge mentioned above is Peter B. Beidler – According to the “History of Wyandot County, Ohio – 1884 – Page 565, Peter Beidler was born in Berks Co., PA to Henry Beidler and Mary Beihl. You can see more about Peter’s life here. If the Beidler name sounds familiar, that’s because Peter is probably a distant ancestral cousin of James Beidler, my 6 times cousin.

Peter Beidlers’ name shows up in other Earp records as well. The marriage record of William Earp Jr., who married in 1867 to Calista Ward in Wyandot Co., OH:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Richard J. Earp, son of William Earp and Ruth Wood, married Calista Morrison in 1868:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Here is the 1880 Census in Wharton, Wyandot Co., OH for William Earp Jr., his wife Calista Ward and their children and William’s mother, Ruth:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

The importance of showing this census is that the three children shown above ended up farther north of Wyandot County.

The three children were:

William M. Earp (1870-1949) – William is the Earp I am concentrating this post on.

James Earp (1872-1947) – James became a physician and lived in Toledo, OH during the 30’s and 40’s. He later passed away in Henry Co., OH.

Aquilla Earp (1875-1920) – Aquilla lived at 235 Indiana Avenue in Toledo, OH between 1910 and 1920 as per his WWI Draft Registration card. It also stated on the back of the card that Aquilla was confined to a wheelchair due to rheumatism. He passed away in Feb. of 1920 in Hancock Co., OH.

Here is the marriage record from 1893 in Lucas Co., OH for William M. Earp (son of William Earp and Calista Ward) and Marey “Minnie” Rebecca Whitling:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

The next stop on the “Wyandot Earp Whirlwind Tour” is Toledo, Ohio.  The first Earp I came across living in Toledo, Ohio while searching for William Earp was a William Earp b. 1847 according to the 1900 Census, Toledo Ward 11, District 0089:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Under occupation, it is stated that William Earp was a banker.  As you can see, he is 53 years old, and his wife Ruby is 18 and they have a son Edward that is 3 years old.  As the old “genie” adage goes “Tell, don’t dwell”.  Just stating the facts as they are shown through the records. I believe the William Earp that is stated in this census, was the son of Joshua Earp, whom we saw earlier.  I have found no other record or census for this William Earp, Ruby his wife or their child shown above.  I believe more extensive research needs to be done.

I then went searching for William Earp (son of William Earp, Jr. and Calista Ward) living in Toledo, Ohio that married Minnie Whitling based on the 1893 marriage record mentioned above (Minnie’s full name was Marey Rebecca Whitling, daughter of William H. Whitling and Susan Sipler of Clarion Co., PA). I did not find William and Minnie in the 1900 census for whatever reason, but I did find William in the 1910 census, in Toledo, Ohio, and he is a lodger, a cigar salesman and Minnie is not with him, although it states he’s married and has been for 16 years. I did not find Minnie anywhere in the 1910 census, so I am not sure why they were separated:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

In the next census for 1920 in Toledo, OH, William and Minnie are back together, but Minnie is using her middle name Rebecca:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

The interesting item I want to point out here is, if you notice the address, 235 Indiana, is the same address that was on Aquilla’s WWI registration card. So, at some point, Aquilla’s brother William must have either taken over the residence or Aquilla gave it to him before he died in Feb. of 1920.

Here’s the 1920 census, taken in Jan. of 1920 in Hancock Co., OH for Aquilla Earp and his family living with his brother-in-law:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

As I searched further for William and Rebecca Earp, it’s as if they fell off the face of the earth. I found no 1930 or 1940 census for either one of them anywhere in the United States. I am not surprised though since I have seen this occur before when researching other ancestors.

The next records I did find for both are their death records in Michigan. William passed away first on 16 July 1949:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

I then found Rebecca’s death record of 23 Oct 1949:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

I had already found William and Rebecca’s Find a Grave memorials, but I like showing life events sequentially.  Here is William’s memorial page. William was killed in an automobile accident:

Courtesy of Find a Grave©

Here is Rebecca’s memorial page:

Courtesy of Find a Grave©

Unbeknownst to me until I found Rebecca’s memorial page, it appears that William and Rebecca had a son named Orville J. Earp, born in 1895 in Knox, Clarion Co., PA.  I did not find William and Rebecca and their son living in Knox, PA in 1900, since Orville is recorded as being born there. It is possible that they were visiting relatives or for some other reason that they were not counted in the 1900 census. Orville died in 1905 in Toledo, Ohio from Tubercular Menangitis:

Courtesy of Find a Grave©

It makes sense that, even though William and Rebecca passed away in Michigan, they would want to be buried with their son, Orville as a family in the Forest Cemetery in Toledo, Ohio.

Here is Orville’s death certificate:

Courtesy of Joyce Thomas (FG)

It’s interesting to note here that, on the certificate the line for Orville’s father is left blank, however the informant is William Earp. I’m not sure if I should read anything into this, but for now I’m satisfied with the information I did find. I was also able to connect William, Rebecca and Orville together on Find a Grave as well as connecting William back to his parents on that site.

As I’ve said before, tracking your ancestral cousins can be just as rewarding and fulfilling as it is for your direct ancestors.  I feel a family thread that connects me to extended family when I discover them even in the most unexpected places.

The following photographs are some of the Earp family of Ohio provided by Christine York-Amstutz (Ancestry):

Sources:

Ancestry©

Find a Grave©

Ohio Genealogy Express

Featured Image:

Railroad and Telegraph Map of Ohio – published 1898 – courtesy of the Library of Congress

Acknowledgements and Special Thanks:

Joyce Thomas – FG contributor

Cindy Adams – FG contributor

Christine York-Amstutz (Earp family tree on Ancestry)

Special thanks to Gary L. Franks – author of the book “Toledo’s Forest Cemetery” published 14 Aug 2019

And of course, to my wife Cheryl, your love and support is everything to me!

Brian