Editing Virgil Earp (section)

===Marriage to Ellen Rysdam===

In February 1860, while living in [[Pella, Iowa]], 16-year-old Virgil [[elope]]d with 17-year-old Dutch immigrant Magdalena C. "Ellen" Rysdam (October 25, 1842, in [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]], Netherlands – May 3, 1910, in [[Cornelius, Oregon]]<ref name="scholton" />). One report states that they saw each other only occasionally and kept their marriage secret until Ellen was about to deliver their first child. When her parents Gerrit Rysdam and Magdalena Catrina Van Velzen learned of the marriage, they were furious, as they preferred that she marry a man who was also Dutch.<ref name="g-forum" /> Virgil's father thought he was too young to marry. Both parents wanted to get the marriage annulled. One source reports that Rysdam was successful, but another says her father failed because Virgil and Ellen refused to reveal where they had been married. They also claimed they had used false names, which would have made the marriage invalid in any case.<ref name="gormley" />

Virgil and Ellen remained together for a year in spite of his and her parents' disapproval. On July 26, 1861, Virgil enlisted at age 18 in the [[Union Army]]. Ellen had a daughter named Nellie Jane, born January 7, 1862<ref name="scholton" /><ref name="IGswe" /> or in July 1862.<ref name="g-forum" /><ref name="historynetvirgil" /> Virgil was mustered in to the Illinois Volunteer Infantry for three years on September 21, 1862.<ref name="gormley" />