event calendar

Col. Cullin Earp laid to rest amid ceremony

By MAC OVERTON
Years of research and months of detailed preparation culminated Saturday (April 26) with the reinterment of Col. Cullin Redwine Earp, C.S.A., the highest-ranking Confederate officer to come from Upshur County. He was commander of the 10th Texas Calvary, and took part in at least 21 bloody battles.

He joined the Confederate Army after Upshur County voted 97 percent in favor of secession.

He died in October, 1865, probably of wounds received in combat. He was only 37.

Earp was reinterred at Hopewell Cemetery, near his brother and other relatives. He left no direct descendants, but many of his nieces and nephews many times removed still live in Upshur County. There are at least 22 other Confederate veterans, including Earp’s brother, buried at Hopewell.

The event was organized by the Upshur County Patriots, local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).

Earp’s relatives, some of whom came from as far as Arizona, California and Alaska, started arriving Friday.

Randlyn Holmes of Gilmer, who is descended from one of Earp’s brothers, said that she hosted 25 people at her house on Friday night, including many “cousins I never knew I had.”

The event began Friday, with an honor guard starting at 10 a.m., and teams of two men in 30-minute shifts standing by Earp’s casket in an old dog-trot log cabin on the Oneta Hinson property at the intersection of South Cypress and East Harrison Sts. in Gilmer. The cabin had sat on property next to Earp’s land, and it is probable that he spent time visiting there.

On Saturday morning, reenactors, some on horseback, formed ranks and a procession including relatives of Earp marched to the courthouse square.

His custom-made wooden casket was placed on a period horse-drawn caisson.

A fife-and-drum corps kept time for the marchers. At the courthouse, speakers included Lee Ann Kreig, a relative who came from Alaska, who spoke on the history of the Earp and Dunkley families, both of whom have kinfolk buried at Hopewell.

She said that her research found four marriages between the Earp and Dunkley families.

Sam Mercer of Gilmer, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans which sponsored the event, praised Earp as a “true American hero.”

In his invocation, Jerry Haymes, SCV Texas Division chaplain, extolled Earp as a man with a “blemish-free” record, and quoted from Psalms 44 and 145.

Preston Furlow, who had five relatives who served under Col. Earp, gave a history of the 10th Texas Calvary. His voice almost broke at times, as he told of how two relatives received mortal wounds at the same battle.

About 40 Earp relatives stood and were recognized.

One young uniformed U.S. soldier in the audience, Pfc. Chris Metcalf, saluted as the casket arrived and as it was carried off after the ceremony. He said he was not a relative, but wanted to show his respects to the colonel.

The remains were transported to Hopewell by Croley Funeral Home, where the casket was replaced on the caisson and given a military-type escort to the gravesite.

Pastor Jamie Eitson of Park Heights Assembly of God in Tyler preached the funeral sermon, which was followed by Masonic burial rites.

Fourteen members of Order of Confederate Rose then placed roses on the casket, during the Black Rose Ceremony.

Following taps, an artillery salute ended the service.

Event commanders included Bill Starnes, whose research had led to the location and recovery of Earp’s remains in an abandoned cemetery on a wooded hilltop near Latch. Dressed in his colonel’s uniform, he had overall charge of the event.

Mark Vogl, camp commander of the Upshur County Patriots, was in charge of event operations.

Preston Furlow was Honor Guard commander, and Johnnie Holley was artillery commander.

Units or organizations participating included Heritage Brass Band Fife and Drums, 8th Texas Calvary, Douglas Battery, Lane Battery, Val Verde Battery, Order of Confederate Gray. Also, Texas Division Headquarters, SCV; Upshur County Patriots, SCV; Gen. John Gregg camp, SCV; Gen. Walter P. Lane Camp, SCV; Gen. W.L. Cabell Camp, SCV; New Salem Invincibles Camp, SCV; J.M. Matt Barton Camp, SCV; W.W. Heartsill Camp, SCV; Oren M. Roberts Camp, SCV; and James P. Douglas Camp, SCV. The Descendants of Confederate Veterans also participated.

Also several chapters of the Texas Order of Confederate Rose participated, including Patriot Rose Chapter, Emma Samson Chapter, and Invincible Rose Chapter.

There were an estimated 200-250 at the ceremony at the courthouse, and more than 500 at Hopewell Cemetery. At least 80 uniformed reenactors participated.

As the ceremony was over and people were dispersing, one person who had traveled a long distance, Paula Sinning of Houston, said that “Texans know how to do things right.”



Mirror Photos / Mac Overton
A CAISSON DRIVEN by Civil War reenactors (top photo) bears the casket of Col. Cullin Redwine Earp Saturday, accompanied by a riderless horse with boots reversed in the stirrups, the sign of a fallen warrior, in photo above. Above, the “East Texas Brigade” begins to form ranks, three abreast, to march to the Upshur County Courthouse for ceremonies there, prior to proceeding to Hopewell Cemetery.

gilmermirror@gmail.com