Alex Earp

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker on Alex Earp tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some family names just seem to carry the law with them. Alex Earp was born in Alabama on August 10, 1832, and by the time his story was done, he'd spent a lifetime proving that respect isn't handed to you — you earn it, often under conditions that would send a lesser man looking for a quieter line of work.

The Earp family moved to Texas, and the lawman tradition took root early. Alex's father served as sheriff of Upshur County from 1856 to 1860. So young Alex came up watching what it meant to keep order in rough country.

When the Civil War arrived, he didn't step back from hard duty — he served as a Confederate cavalry captain. Then came the 1880s, and Upshur County was a different animal altogether. The timber industry had arrived, and with it came a transient, rowdy population — the kind of crowd that follows a boom, fast money and short tempers and not a whole lot of patience for consequence.

That's when Alex Earp became sheriff of Upshur County. The marker calls him, plain and simple, a lumber-boom sheriff. Won respect under great handicaps.

Four words that say a whole lot without spelling out every bruise. He wasn't finished with public service after the badge, either. In 1895 and 1896 he served as county commissioner.

A man who could handle a logging boomtown could probably handle a commissioner's meeting. Alex married Mary Ethel Decker Nations, and together they had three children — John B., Aphra, and Jim. He lived all the way to March 5, 1920.

Born in Alabama, carried to Texas, forged somewhere between the cavalry and the timber camps — Alex Earp is the kind of man a county marker doesn't forget.

What the marker says

Alex Earp, (Aug. 10, 1832-March 5, 1920). A lumber-boom sheriff. Won respect under great handicaps. Born in Alabama. Family moved to Texas; father was sheriff of Upshur County 1856-1860. Served as Confederate cavalry captain. Became Upshur County sheriff in 1880s when timber industry attracted a transient, rowdy population. In 1895-1896 served as county commissioner. Married Mary Ethel Decker Nations. Had three children: John B., Aphra, and Jim. Recorded, 1968