The Robertson Family Cemetery seems to have become a critical resource for neighbors in need as well as a family cemetery. Of the 32 interees, 9 are neighbors and friends. The last of these to be buried here are Charlotte White and her son, George.

We don’t know very much about the Whites. The 1880 census lists a family of three living in Tyaskin: Alexander, 47 years old, his wife Charlotte, age 38 and their 2 year old son, George H. Alexander’s profession is listed as sailor.

By 1900 we think Alexander has passed away. Charlotte is listed as Charlotte Kirwin (back to her maiden name?) living with her son, George H. This and the 1910 census make it clear the Whites, Robertsons and Evanses are all neighbors and friends, living in the Nanticoke area of Wicomico County.

The 1910 census has George, at 32, living with his mother, who is now 65. George’s occupation is sailor. One curious thing – in this census Charlotte’s first name appears to be recorded as something else (beginning with an “A” but basically unreadable), with a middle initial of C. Could be Charlotte was her middle name – but on her gravestone her name is engraved as Charlotte A.

Charlotte passes away in 1919, at the age of 71, and the 1920 census shows that George is living alone – still in Nanticoke – on Muddy Hole Road – and working as an oysterman. The census also says he owns his home – so maybe he inherited from his Mom? We can’t find him in any later census reports.

George, passes away in 1958, at the age of 80. Charlotte and George are buried, side by side, in the Robertson Family Cemetery.

The Robertson Family Cemetery was founded in 1876, when Esther Adeline, wife of James W.T. and mother of Carrie Roberta, Eva Blanche, and Alice Talmage, died and was buried in a small plot of land set aside on the family farm.

The next person to be buried there was William Evans, in 1895. We are unclear exactly who this William Evans is. The only part of his gravestone that is readable appears below, and only contains his name. The larger gravestone (which presumably includes dates of birth and death) is overturned at the moment. No matter who he was, William Evans was the first non-family member to be given a place to rest in our family cemetery.

Francis Jerome, born on 14 October 1851 and Lucy (Willing) Evans, born on 6 May 1861 are the father and mother of the Evans Family. It looks like Jerome was born in Salisbury to William F. and Sally Evans, but the family soon moved to Baltimore where William was a tanner and Jerome himself was apprenticed to a blacksmith.

Lucy and the Willing family lived in the Tyaskin District in Wicomico County. Her dad was John Littleton Willing (actually called Littleton, we think), and his wife was Hester. He seems to have had various jobs both on and off a farm. We don’t have a marriage date for Francis Jerome and Lucy, but by the 1880 census they are indeed married, and have moved in with her (Lucy’s) family in Tyaskin. Jerome is listed as an oysterman.

It is this census that clearly demonstrates that the Willings, the Evans couple, and Robertsons were neighbors.

By 1900 the Evans family is large and seemingly growing. Jerome (at 49) and Lucy (at 39) have 5 children – Blanche (18), Charles (15), Walter (13), Florence (9), and Esther (3).

In 1884, tragedy struck the family, as Charles Edward dies at the age of 17. He is the second Evans family member to be buried at the Robertson Cemetery.

In 1910 the Evans family is still in Tyaskin, but Jerome has become a blacksmith. Walter is listed as a laborer at odd jobs. He is 23 and Florence, at 19, is a clerk at a millinery store. Esther is 13. Marion Francis (9 years) and Lucille (7 years) have joined the family.

On 31 January 1918, the son Walter J. passes away at age 31 and becomes the third Evans family member to be buried in the Robertson Family Cemetery.

By now, Jerome seems to own his own blacksmith shop and the children, Florence, Marion Francis, and Lucille are all living at home.

On 16 September 1929, Francis Jerome – the head of the family – dies in Clara, MD. He is also buried at the Robertson Cemetery.

It looks like after that Lucy goes to live with her son, Marion, his wife, Alice and their son Wayne (6 years old) in Salisbury.

Lucy passes away on 24 January 1935. She is buried beside her husband and sons – all at the Robertson Family Cemetery.

(1886 – 1912)

Grant Hewitt was born on 17 Feb 1886 in Somerset County, Maryland. His father was William James Bell Hewitt; his mother was Sarah “Sallie” Elizabeth Meredith. William was born in 1848; Sallie was born in 1850. They married on 8 June 1870. William was 22 years old; Sallie was 20.

Ten years later, according to the 1880 census, the couple has had 4 children, all daughters, ranging in age from 7 years to 6 months. The census was taken in Fairmont, Somerset County, MD. Grant’s father’s occupation is listed as a sailor.

Grant was born 17 Feb 1886. His brother, Leonard, was two years older, and a younger brother, William Ellis, was born in 1888. After having 7 children, Sallie passes away in 1892.

William marries Sarah Virginia Jennie James (called Jennie) in (approx.) 1893. (The 1900 census says they had been married for 7 years.) Their first child, Theodore, was born in 1896; Esther was born in 1898.

The 1900 census, which was taken in the Tangier District of Somerset County, MD, lists the family as James (William’s second name, of course), Jennie (Sarah’s 3rd name), and 5 children – Theodore, Esther, Leonard, Grant and Willie. Grant is 14 years old and already listed as an “oysterman,” as was his Dad.

The “Tangier District” is a peninsula surrounded by the Bay of Tangier and the Chesapeake Bay – so sailor or oysterman, it is clear that the Harris family, at this point, was earning their living on the bay.

By the time of the 1910 census, Grant, who is 24, has already moved out of the house, and William and Jennie have had 3 more children: Rodger (1901), Russell (1903) and Catherine (1906). They are still living in Maryland’s Tangier District.

The couple go on to have one more child, Jennie, who dies shortly after birth. Also, Rodger dies at the age of 3.

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By the 1920 census the family has moved to Baltimore. William James (Dad) is working as a watchman; Russell is still living at home. Catherine, her husband James, and their daughter, Esther, are living there, too, as well as 2 lodgers.

The Nanticoke Bivalve Church register has a record of a marriage between Grant Hewitt and May Roberts, of Clara, on 30 June 1910. Grant died 30 Dec 1912, at the age of 26. We cannot find a death certificate or information about why, where or how he died. He and May seem to have had no children. The 1920 census has May back home living with her mother, Zipporah. Both women are recorded as widows.

Grant’s final resting place is the Robertson Family Cemetery, in Clara, MD. No other member of his family is buried there.

The engraving on the tombstone reads ~
He passed beyond
Life’s long provision
For years
We know that
And it is well.