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.