Rock Bluff Cemetery, Rock Bluff, Cass County, Nebraska

The following data is extracted from Cemetery Collection.

Copied by Gilbert Harry Doane, A.B.

The cemetery at Rock Bluff, Nebraska, lies on a hill over looking the village and the Missouri River. It is reported that there are many unmarked graves in this, one of the oldest cemeteries in Nebraska.
In the following list of inscriptions and burials some of the data enclosed in square brackets was supplied the copist by Lemon Bates, of Nebraska City, John Thomas, of Rock Bluff, and Dr. Gilmore, of Murray. That supplied by the first is easily identified. Dr. Gilmore married a sister of Georgiana Walker.

Allen, Howard, Co. A., 1st Nebr. Inf. [No dates.]
Alley, Charlie G., son of S. S. & J. S. B. Alley, ae. 24 days. (No dates given.]

Bachelor, Addie E., d. 18 Aug. 1884, ae 11 mos. [Dau. of Philip & Jane (Bates) (Parker) Bachelor. Jane, dau. of Isaac and Rhoda (Dunighan) Bates, mar. (1) ------- Parker, (2) Philip Bachelor.]
Bachelor, Jessie C., d. 3 July 1881, ae 15 mos. [Dau. of Philip & Jane (Bates) (Parker) Bachelor.]
Bachelor, Matthew A., d. 15 Mar. 1877, as. 4 mos. [Son of Philip & Jane (Bates) (Parker) Bachelorj*

[Bates, Elizabeth, dau. of Isaac & Rhoda (Dunighan) Bates. Bur. in the Bates lot, no stone.]
[Bates, Ethel Loraine, d. in infancy, dau. of Lemon & Minnie (Hall)** Bates. No stone.]
[Bates, Ira, son of Julius and Elizabeth Ann (Copeland) Bates, d. ae. about 40. Bur. in the Bates lot, stone not inscribed. He was a brother of Lemon Bates, of Nebraska City.]
Bates, Isaac, d. 16 Feb. 1886, ae 80 yrs. 10 mos. [Came to Rock Bluff by steamboat.]
Bates, Julius, 17th Iowa Infantry. [Son of Isaac & Rhoda (Dunighan) Bates, father of Lemon Bates, of Nebraska City. His wife, Elizabeth Ann (Copeland) was bur. at Wisner, Neb.]

B[ates], L[emon] S[cott]. [His stone is inscribed with his initials only. He was the son of Jacob & Minerva Bates, and was drowned at the age of 23, 3 July 1881, while attempting to carry a cable across the Platte River at Plattsmouth where a bridge was being built.]
Bates, Rhoda [Dunighan], wife of Isaac Bates, d. 25 Oct. 1885, ae. 79 yrs. 9 mos.
Beatty, Axena E., wife of J. N. Beatty, d. 8 Sept. 1860, ae. 27 yrs. 9 mos.
Beatty, Fred B., son of J. N. & Axena E. Beatty, d. 23 Sept. 1860, ae. 4 mos. 7 days.
Browne, Charles R., d. 21 Sept. 1871, ae. 21 yrs. 10 mos. [Bur. in the Shera lot.]

Davis, Lydia, d. 2 Aug. 1859, ae. 17 yrs.
Davis, Margaret A., wife of Wm. R. Davis, d. 10 Dec. 1864, ae. 37 yrs. 10 mos. 20 days.
Davis, Willie M., son of Wm. R. Davis, d. 22 Dec. 1864, ae. 1 mo. 18 days.
Estes, Sterlin P. [An old, hand-hewn stone, inscribed without dates.]

Gilmour, Arthur, son of Wm. & L. E. Gilmour, d. 23 May 1886, ae. 1 yr. 9 mos. 15 days.
Gilmour, Clara, dau. of Wm. & L. E. Gilmour, d. 8 Mar. 1887, ae. 10 yrs. 4 mos. 14 days.
Gilmour, Lucy, dau. of Wm. & L. E. Gilmour, d. 19 May 1886, ae. 4 yrs. 2 mos. 7 days.
Gilmour, Lucy E., wife [of William Gilmour] 4 Jan. 1849 - 11 Dec. 1924.
Gilmour, Susie, dau. of Wm. & L. E. Gilmour, d. 8 July 1877, ae. 2 yrs. 4 mos. 13 days.
Gilmour, William, 20 Sept. 1838 - 28 Jan. 1928, Co. H., 2nd Neb. Cav. [See also Towner.]

Graves, George E., son of E. L. & E. A. Graves, d. 1 Sept. 1873, ae. 1 yr. 8 mos. 20 days.
Graves, Jennie, dau. of A. H. & M. A. J. Graves, d. 24 Oct. 1878, ae. 12 yrs. 1 mo. 18 days.
Graves, John C., son of C. M. & M. J. Graves, d. 8 Apr. 1892, ae. 13 days.
Graves, Lillie E., dau. of C. M. & M. J. Graves, d. of dyphtheria 3 Feb. 1889, ae. 8 yrs. I mo. 11 days.
Graves, Mahala P., d. 27 Aug. 1919, ae. 97 yrs. 11 mos. 4 days. "Mother."
Graves, Ura S., son of C. M. & M. J. Graves, drowned 10 July 1873, ae. 1 yr. 8 mos. 10 days.
Graves, William W., b. 19 July 1818, d. 6 Apr. 1895. "Father."

[Hall, Elizabeth, wife of Philden Hall, d. 25 Jan. 1915, ae. 74 yrs. No stone. She was dau. of Robert and Eliza (Clark) Hoback.*]
Hall, Emma, dau. of H. & R. Hall, d. 21 Mar. 1868, ae. 10 mos.
(Hall, Isaac Stanley, d. 17 Sept. 1928, ae. 48. No stone. He was not married, and was the son of Robert and Elizabeth (Hoback) Hall.]
[Hall, Philden, d. 1 Oct. 1918, ae. 86. No stone. He was born in Kentucky.]

Hendrickson, Elizabeth, wife of James Hendrickson, d. 23 July 1880, ae. 71 yrs. 2 mos. 8 days.
Holmes, Sophia M., wife of A. M. Holmes, d. 17 Oct. 1864, ae. 24 yrs. 9 mos. 17 days.
Inman, Sarah, wife of J. C. Inman, d. 23 May 1863, ae. 41 yrs. 1 mo. 5 days.

Johnson, Andrew J., son of Samuel R. & Martha E. Johnson, d. 13 Sept. 1863, ae. 6 yrs. 9 mos. 1 day.
Johnson, Sinna B., dau. of Samuel R. & Martha E. Johnson, d. 30 Sept. 1863, ae. 4 yrs. 10 mos. 2 days.
Kenody, Olive, wife of E. E. Kenody & dau. of N. & C. Smith, d. 15 Sept. 1887, ae. 47 yrs.
Lambert, Alice W., dau. of John & Julia Lambert, d. 28 Jan. 1875, ae. 13 yrs. 7 mos. 14 days.
Lambert, Corp'l Jno. Lambert, Co. K., 2nd Nebr. Cav. [No dates.]
Lambert, John T., 1857-1919.

Latta, Mary E., dau. of R. M. & L. Latta, d. 17 Aug. 1859, ae. 2 yrs, 2 mos. 3 days.
Latta, Willie C., son of W. S. & S. A. Latta, d. 17 Oct. 1865, ae. 10 mos. 22 days.

Marsh, John H., son of L. P. & E. Marsh, b. 26 Dec. 1888, d. 27 June 1894.
Murphee, N. H., d. 10 Nov. 1865, ae. 38 yrs. 5 mos. 10 days. [A bachelor, the uncle of Margaret Ann (Simpson) Walker. He came from Somerset, Kentucky.]
Murray, Jonathan, d. 20 Aug. 1860, ae. 49 yrs. 6 mos. 20 days. [He was related to Jesse James. His brother, L. C. W. Murray, was bur. at Eight Mile Grove, Neb.: - Dr. Gilmore.]

Nash, Arabella L., dau. of John & Matilda Nash, d. 23 Aug. 1857, ae. 4 yrs. 3 mos. 23 days.
Parker, Isaac A., d. 18 Aug. 1877, ae. 2 yrs. 10 mos. 8 days. [Son of ------- & Jane (Bates) Parker. Bur. in the Bates lot.]
[Patterson, Mary Frances, wife of ------- Patterson, b. in Illinois 14 May 1860, d. in Rock Bluff 13 May 1925. She was dau. of William & Margaret McMullen. She mar. (1) Joseph Thomas, who was bur. in South Dakota, son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Archer) Thomas. The grandmother of Elizabeth (Archer) Thomas was (-------) Walters, an own cousin of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, Maryland, and was living in 1893, aged 93 years. Joseph and Mary Frances (McMullen) Thomas had three children: two daus., Myrtle, d. ae. 2 yrs., and Mamie, d. ae. 14 yrs., both bur. at Eight Mile Grove, Neb.; and a son, John Thomas, living, unmarried, at Rock Bluff, in 1930.]
Patterson, Thomas, d. 24 Mar. 1860, ae. 62 yrs. 10 mos. [The donor of Rock Bluff Cemetery.]

R., S. A. [A crude stone, rudely inscribed S. A. R.]
Roberts, Mary Elizabeth, dau. of Abraham & Julia A. Roberts, d. 17 Jan. 1859, ae. 3 yrs. [The remainder of the inscription has been obliterated.]
Royal, James L., son of W. H. & E. R. Royal, d. 2 Sept. 1859, ae. 14 yrs. 6 mos. 27 days.

Sans, Caroline, wife of Joseph V. Sans, d. 25 Sept. 1875, ae. 31 yrs. 5 mos. 25 days.
Sans, Franke W., son of J. V. & Caroline Sans, d. 31 Jan. 1878, ae. 9 yrs. 9 mos. 18 days.
Sans, Thomas C., son of J. V. & C. Sans, d. 16 Aug. 1874, ae. 6 mos. 3 days.

Selsor, Nellie White, 1877-1902. [Bur. with Ivon S. & Anne White, presumably their dau.]
Seward, Effie L., dau. of L. D. & C. F. Seward, d. 28 Mar. 1865, ae. 9 mos. 12 days.
Seward, Sarah M., dau. of B. & S. Seward, d. 27 Oct. 1865, ae. 12 yrs. 3 mos. 21 days.
Seybolt, Edgar L., son of George L. & M. E. Seybolt, d. 2 Nov. 1867, ae. 1 yr. 11 mos. 11 days,
Shera, Annette, 1838-1910.
Shera, Charles A., son of J. & A. Shera, d. 27 Sept. 1890, ae. 24 yrs. 9 mos. 23 days.
Shera, Henry, d. 8 Apr. 1878, ae. 46 yrs. "This monument was erected by his widow Mary Shera."
Shera, Joseph, 1834-1903.
Shera, Joseph C. A., son of J. & A. Shera, d. 15 Feb. 1870, ae. 11 yrs. I mo. 3 days.
Shera, Robert T., son of J. & A. Shera, d. 31 July 1864, ae. 7 yrs. 9 mos. 13 days.
Shera, William S., 1869-1929.

Smith, Celicia, wife of Nathan Smith, d. 24 Nov. 1878, ae. 83 yrs. 4 mos. 23 days.
Smith, Ellen J., 1868-1916, dau. of Thomas & Mary Smith.
Smith, Nathan, d. 17 July 1873, ae. 71 yrs. 4 mos. 7 days. [See also Kenodyj

Spratlen, Charles W., son of Wm. H. & Susan E. Spratlen, d. 29 Sept. 1857, ae. 1 yr. 9 mos. 5 days.
Spratlen, Frelen N., son of S. W. & M. E. Spratlen, d. 19 May 1857, ae. 8 days.
Spratlen, Melinda E., wife of S. W. Spratlen, d. 7 Mar. 1865, ae. 3[1?] yrs. [The stone has been repaired and reset in cement, hence the inscription is obscured.]
Spratlen, Melinda M., dau. of S. W. & M. E. Spratlen, d. 29 Apr. 1865, ae. 2 mos. [3?] days. [The stone has been repaired.]
Spratlen, Susan E., dau. of S. W. & M. E. Spratlen, d. 8 Feb. 1861, ae. 3 mos. 28 days. N. b. There are two graves in the Spratlen lot marked by uninscribed stones.

Thompson, Hannah E., wife of W. L. Thompson, d. 31 Mar. 1865, ae. 34 yrs. 4 mos. 17 days.
Thompson, James E., d. 13 Sept. 1859, ae. 44 yrs. 9 mos. 25 days.
Thompson, Willie F., son of W. L. & H. E. Thompson, d. 19 Sept. 1858, ae. 14 mos.

Towner, Ezra, son of Abraham & Hester Towner, d. 9 Apr. 1863, ae. 9 yrs. 3 mos. 22 days.
Towner, Hester, wife of A Towner, d. 7 Feb. 1866, ae. [?] yrs. 9 mos. 21 days.
Towner, Leonard, son of A. G. & M. F. Towner, d. 16 Sept. 1857, ae. 1 yr. 1 mo. 27 days. N. b. The three Towner stones are in the Gilmour lot.

Walker, Georgians, d. 5 Sept. 1872, ae. 3 yrs. 4 mos. [Dau. of James Allison & Margaret Ann (Simpson) Walker. In an unmarked grave beside her is buried "Aunt Lindy", a slave brought from Somerset, Ky., or Sparta, Tenn., by her family.]
Welsh, Angaline, wife of J. W. Welsh, b. 5 Nov. 1833, d. 6 Mar. 1905.

White, Anne, 1835-1920. "Mother".
White, Ivon S., 1835-1913. "Father". [See also Selsor.]
White, Lanzel C., son of L. & A. White, d. 4 Dec. 1867, ae. 3 yrs. 9 mos. 10 days.

Williams, John P., son of B. & M. Williams, d. 31 Sept. 1866, ae. 18 yrs. 6 mos. 16 days.
Wood, James W., 18 Jan. 1839-25 July 1923. [A Civil War veteran.] Mary, his wife, 30 Oct. 1845-20 Oct. 1888.
Wood, Mary, wife of James W. Wood, 1845-1888.

Source: Cemetery Collection

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