 He was the half-brother of Old West lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp.He was in the Union army during the Civil War, serving as a part of the 4th Iowa Cavalry, and eventually mustered out with the rank of corporal.Departing the army in 1865 he went to Missouri to farm on the land of his father near Lamar, then lost an election for constable five years later at Lamar.