Westport Cemetery

The Westport Cemetery, likely the second largest cemetery in the county after South Park, is located directly west of the small community of Westport.  The earliest Robbins that I’m aware of (and there may be others) buried here is Harvey Robbins (1829-1917), son of George and Nancy (Pruitt) Robbins.  If you’ve been reading this blog you might remember George is buried in the Burks Chapel cemetery.  I don’t know where Harvey’s first wife Xantippe is buried – she died sometime before 1869 – as that year Harvey married Delilah (“Della”) Borden, who is buried with her husband.

Coleman Robbins, the only known child of Harvey and his first wife, is also buried here.  He was struck by a train in 1919, had never married, and has no descendants.  Some years ago I came across the coroner’s report for Coleman.  Among the information on that report was the following statement:  “I was called to Westport Ind. on the above date because of the death of Coleman Robbins who was accidentally killed by a Big Four S. Bound train….Mr. Robbins was crossing the RR with a wheel-barrow load of kindling and being deaf never heard the train whistle….”

It is interesting that Harvey and Coleman share a gravestone, and Della and youngest daughter Brida (Robbins) Bliton (1888-1939) share another.  Among the other related family names here are:  Bake, Dishinger, Hutton, Jessup, Skinner, and Spencer.

Mount Aerie Cemetery

The Mt. Aerie Cemetery is located right along state highway 3, halfway between Greensburg and Westport, surrounding the Mt. Aerie Baptist Church.  While only half the size of the Westport cemetery, it seems to hold many more family members.

In this cemetery rests Charity (Robbins) (Hanks) Purvis (1811-1892), daughter of Absalom and Mary (Ogle) Robbins, along with three of her children.  Charity’s first husband was James Hanks, who died along with a son in 1843, while out coon hunting.  It is unknown where they are buried.  Charity then married John Purvis and both of them are buried here in Mt. Aerie.

Other related surnames here include:  Davis, House, Knarr, Logan, Myers, Purvis, Skinner, Stout, Taggart, Van Treese, Wasson, Whipple, and more.

Mapleton Cemetery

This small cemetery is situated east of highway 3, along a peaceful farm road.  There are only a handful of relatives here, but one of the most interesting is William Franklin Robbins (1850-1922) who figured so prominently in the 1922 reunion and died tragically only six months later (you can read more about him here).

Besides William and his wife Julia, son Henry Cleveland and daughter Mary Cordelia (Robbins) Morgan, are surnames Miller, Scripture, and Skinner.

Union Baptist Cemetery

The Union Baptist Cemetery, just around the corner from the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (my first cemetery post in this series; Mt. Pleasant is in the woods in the upper right hand corner of the Google Earth view below), has relatives from a wide variety of branches of the family.  Descendants of William Robbins Jr. are buried here including William Gilman Styers and other members of the Styers family; descendants of Marmaduke Robbins, including his granddaughter Jennie Robbins and her husband Tom Vanderbur; Aaron Robbins, a descendant of George; various ubiquitous Skinner descendants of Charity (Robbins) (Hanks) Purvis; and descendants of Thomas Jr. and Matilda Robbins, most of whose family lived in Jennings county.

This completes my posts on some (there are others) of the main rural cemeteries in Decatur County with Robbins relations, but my next post will discuss the huge South Park Cemetery, the largest one in the county, located in the city of Greensburg.

Burks Chapel Cemetery

The Burks Chapel Cemetery is a small plot right next to the road on W. County Road 750 S.  I believe it is privately owned but being near the road the last time I visited it was a simple thing to park and enter. (I guess we’ll find out on our cemetery tour if the owners object to a group of visitors!).

In this cemetery rests one of the early progenitors of many descendants of the family:  George Robbins.  George, the son of Absalom and Mary (Ogle) Robbins, was born in 1792 and lived until 1888.  He and his wife Nancy Pruitt were said to be the parents of at least eleven children.

George’s son Jonathan Robbins, with his wife Margaret Spilman, are also buried in this cemetery.  Among the other related family names here are:  Bower, Coleman, Cripe, Flint, Scripture, Skinner, Vanderbur, and Voiles.

Rodney Cemetery (Decatur County, Indiana)

The Rodney Cemetery is located next to the Rodney Friendship Separate Baptist Church in Christ (so reads their sign), in a fairly wooded section of Decatur County, along S. County Road 60 SW.  I have not been able to find any additional information about this church but the cemetery seems old, but with recent burials too.

Micajah Robbins (1788-1865), another patriarch of the family and eldest son of Absalom and Mary (Ogle) Robbins, is reportedly buried in the Rodney Cemetery, but his grave seems to be unmarked.  Notes by a grandson, John W. Holcomb, state: “Macajah m. Elizabeth Hanks a cousin of William Hanks.  They were my Grandfather and Grandmother.  They are buried at Rodney Cemetery near their home.”  (Micajah’s wife was actually Elizabeth Vickery).  It’s possible that the grave was marked at one time but the stone was lost over the years, perhaps even buried below the surface of the lawn today.

There are other Robbins family members buried at Rodney, including Micajah’s daughter Nancy (Robbins) Evans and family, and descendants of Micajah’s brother George, including Levi W. Robbins (1841-1930) and some of his family line.  Other related family names found in the cemetery include:  Bower, Giddings, Harrison, Martin, Shoemake, and Stone.

Rock Creek Cemetery (Decatur County, Indiana)

Rock Creek Cemetery, which is also spelled Rockcreek, is located towards the southeastern corner of Decatur County, along W. County Road 1100 S, next to the Rock Creek Baptist Church.

William (“Rock Creek Billy”) Robbins is buried here.  “Rock Creek Billy” being one of those many early Robbins family nicknames to distinguish this William from all the other Williams!  This gentleman was the son of Jacob and Rachel Robbins and brother of the Jacob Robbins who emigrated to Oregon in 1852.

“Rock Creek Billy” Robbins was married twice, first to Mary Moffett, then following her death, to Elizabeth Ferguson, and altogether he fathered perhaps as many as twelve children.  As happens in the Robbins family, there were intermarriages, so his oldest daughter Eliza Catherine (“Katty”) Robbins was married to her cousin, once-removed, Job Robbins, son of George (see above about Burks Chapel Cem.). 

Besides finding the Robbins surname in the cemetery, you will find many other family names such as:  Deweese, Evans, Ford, Harrison, Hockersmith, Holcomb, Ponsler, Rork, Spencer, Sutton, and Taylor.