Longview News-Journal, Longview,Texas
Sunday, April 27, 2008

UPSHUR COUNTY — With cannons firing in the distance and thin notes of a fife floating
through the air, Col. Cullin Redwine Earp was lowered into his final resting place
Saturday.

Hundreds of onlookers gathered in Hopewell Cemetery to watch the reburial of this
Confederate soldier, whose desecrated grave was discovered a few years ago near Latch.
The casket of Col. Cullin Redwine Earp, a Confederate officer who fought in the Civil War,

is lowered into the ground Saturday during his reinterment at the Hopewell Cemetery in
Gilmer.
Complete with a mounted guard, gun salute and a bugler's call of taps, Earp's memorial
service was a mix of centuries-old tradition and modern-day re-enactment.
"I know Col. Earp, he's smiling about this ceremony today — a true American hero," said
Sam Mercer, who lead the crowd in prayer minutes before Earp's flag-draped coffin was
eased into its grave.
Aside from the clicks and whirs of cameras, few sounds came from the audience of men,
women and children.
Following Mercer, about 15 veiled women in long, black gowns filed by the gravesite one
by one. They each laid a single red rose on the coffin before forming a line again, a
stark contrast between the hovering gray sky and verdant green fields of the cemetery.
The events leading up to Earp's reinterment, including a coffin viewing in Gilmer, a
funeral procession and a ceremony at the Upshur County Courthouse, drew more than
500 spectators and hundreds of participants, organizers estimated.
"It was just awesome," said Randlyn Holmes as the two-day memorial drew to a close.
Holmes, of Gilmer, was one of a handful of Earp's indirect descendants to attend the
rituals. Earp did not have any children.
"It's just been awesome to see all the extensions of Cullin Earp," Holmes said.
"The presentation that these men and women have put on, all the work that went into
this — I don't know what to say," she added. "It's just been unbelievable."
Lee Ann Kreig, whose lineage also is connected to the Earp family, traveled from Anchorage,
Alaska, to attend the funeral.
"I'm thrilled to be able to share this (family history) and to see this sort of
celebration for the couple," said Kreig, who is the third-great-grandniece of Earp's wife, Harriet Dunkley Vredenburgh. "When you don't leave heirs, you're often forgotten."
It's taken nearly a century and a half for Earp to join his fellow war veterans at Upshur
County's Hopewell Cemetery.
Earp died in 1865 at the age of 37, after returning home to Upshur County. He had served
as the colonel of the 10th Texas Calvary, leading Confederate soldiers through Civil War
battles and fighting in at least 21 himself.
After his death, his grave was all but forgotten for many years. About a decade ago, local
historian Bill Starnes started searching for more about Earp. His efforts, along with
those of other history buffs, culminated in the weekend's celebrations.
"This was a potential tragedy because of his service," said Preston Furlow, one of the
leading participants in the tribute to Earp. His interest in Earp's past was personal, as
his own ancestors served with Earp in the war.
"He was a leader of men in battle," Furlow said. "Ask any man who has been in battle,
and they can tell you it takes quite a bit to do that."
Furlow drove from Waxahachie to head the honor guard of the Confederate Gray, which
watched over the coffin during the viewing Friday.
He was one of dozens of men, women and children who dressed for the proceedings in period
garb, including slouch hats, swords and cotton-and-wool tunics.
The Order of the Confederate Gray ended the ceremony Saturday afternoon with an old-
fashioned show of respect. Furlow and six other men took turns slowly saluting Earp's
grave. Each then took off their black arm bands and tied them to the trigger of a rifle
that had been stuck into the ground by its bayonet. Before marching back into place,
the men once again did a slow salute to the soldier.
Furlow said afterward that the decorum is partly for enjoyment of the participants,
but also is done to keep alive old customs of honor.
"It's a 19th-century tradition that's been carried on.

Have a vidio also If I can figure out how to post it. Mike