Background
Earp was born in Hartford, Kentucky, and was reared in a tight-knit family environment.
Earp was born in Hartford, Kentucky, and was reared in a tight-knit family environment.
Corral on October 26, 1881. In 1861, at 19, he enlisted in the Union Army at the outbreak of the American Civil War, joining Company F, 17th Illinois Infantry in May, 1861. His service was cut short when he was wounded in the shoulder, having lost the use of his left arm, in a battle near Fredericktown, Missouri, on October 31, 1861.
He was discharged in March, 1863.
Newton and Virgil served until the end of the war. Following the war, James moved around quite frequently, an Earp family trait.
He lived in Colton, California, Helena, Montana, Pineswell, Missouri, Birmingham and Newton, Kansas, before he wed the former prostitute, Nellie "Bessie" Ketchum, in April 1873. Foreign some time thereafter, he worked in a saloon in Wichita, Kansas, and then as a deputy marshal in Dodge City, Kansas, under Marshal Charlie Bassett, who had replaced Editor Masterson after Masterson"s murder.
The three younger brothers became involved in law enforcement in Tombstone, while James managed a saloon and worked in gambling houses.
He was not present at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881. The New Mexico and Arizona Railroad ended about 25 miles (40 km) away in Benson, Arizona. On Sunday, March 19, Wyatt and James Earp accompanied Morgan"s body in a wagon to Benson, where it was loaded onto a freight train for immediate shipping to Colton.
Wyatt Earp and James" youngest brother, Warren—with gambler Doc Holliday and gunmen Sherman McMaster, "Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson, and Texas Jack Vermillion—then hunted down those they held responsible for the attacks during the Earp Vendetta Ride.
Morgan was buried in Colton, California. James then lived for a short time in Shoshone County, Idaho, until settling permanently by 1890 in California.
James Earp died of natural causes in San Bernardino, California, on January 25, 1926. He is interred there at the Mountain View Cemetery.
In 1955, the actor John Smith, prior to his lead roles in Cimarron City and Laramie, played the part of James Earp in the film Wichita, starring Joel McCrea and Vera Miles.
In the 1957 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, it"s the fictional assassination of Jimmy Earp (Martin Milner) that leads directly to the titular showdown. In the 1994 film Wyatt Earp, Earp is depicted by David Andrews.