Wyatt Earp: The Noted Lawman Serves a Summons....

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Wyatt Earp: The Noted Lawman Serves a Summons. This lot consists of a very early legal document (A.E.S.) dating from Earp's (1848-1929) tenure as Constable in Lamar, Missouri . The front of the document is an 8.5" x 5" State of Missouri summons requiring William Kelley to appear before the Justice of the Peace to testify in the case of the State of Missouri v. Thomas L. Brown. The law enforcement official designated to serve the summons was none other than Wyatt Earp, later to gain legendary status as Sheriff of Tombstone, Arizona. The back side contains an endorsement and docketing, all in Earp's hand, as follows: "I have served the within subpoena upon the within Named William Kelley by Reading the Same to him this Feb 28, 1870 W. S. Earp Const. Fees 50. [docket] Fees 50 State of Mo vs T. L. Brown". At the time he wrote this, Earp had just been married for one month to his first wife, Urilla Sutherland, who would die of typhoid fever by year's end. The following year, Earp was accused of misappropriating fees and judgment monies collected, as well as outright theft. He was arrested and jailed in early 1871, but escaped and left Missouri for Peoria, Illinois.