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Sacred Ground: Terry Cemetery
The Terry Cemetery at Robbins is a small, family burial ground atop Grassy Knob, the long, narrow ridge that separates New River from Clear Fork.
The cemetery dates all the way back to 1918, when three-year-old Milo Terry died amid the Spanish flu pandemic. And while there have only been a handful of burials there through the years, the cemetery has never gone inactive.
The Terry family
Milo Terry died on Dec. 7, 1918 of bronchial pneumonia as a complication of the flu. He was one of many Scott Countians who died amid the Spanish flu pandemic.
Milo was the son of Maynard Terry (1879-1937) and Ollie Shoemaker (1889-1967).
Maynard Terry was a veteran of the Spanish-American War, the son of Jasper Terry (1850-1914) and Mary Jane Ellis (1858-1928). Jasper Terry, who settled in the Black Creek area, was the grandson of Josiah Terry, who was the first white settler of Oneida. Therefore, the Terry family of Black Creek and Grassy Knob is tied into the rest of the Terrys in Scott County. Jasper’s father was Martin Terry (1823-1890).
The Ellis family was a prominent family in the Black Creek-Crossroads area for many years. Jasper’s wife, Mary Jane, was the daughter of William Ellis (1825-1912).
Maynard married into another prominent Robbins family when he married Ollie Shoemaker in 1907. She was the daughter of Bailey Columbus Shoemaker (1860-1908) and Lavada Slagle (1864-1939).
Maynard and Ollie had five children besides young Miles. Avery Terry, the first born, died in infancy in 1908 and was buried at Black Creek Crossroads Cemetery. Surviving children included Doris (1910-2004), Lorin (1912-1975), Clyde (1921-2001) and Connie (1926-2021).
Doris married Ralph Gordon Vanderpool, who also grew up on Grassy Knob, and they left Scott County for Roane County. Lorin married Nora Lee Jones, and they moved to Michigan. Connie married Virgle Leo Garrett from Honey Creek and also moved to Michigan.
Clyde was the only of the Terry children who lived in Scott County later in life. He married Flora Wright in 1946. She was the daughter of Hobert Wright and Rosa Branim of Grassy Knob, and they lived their latter years in the Mountain View community nearby, after spending much of their adult life in the Chattanooga area. Their children included Brenda Dunn, Milford Terry, Sandra Skelton, and Linda Schreeder.
Following Milo’s death in 1918, there were no more burials at the family cemetery until Maynard’s death in 1937. Ollie was later buried at the cemetery in 1967. Clyde was buried there in 2001, and Flora was buried there in 2010.
The DeBord family
Susan Ery DeBord was buried at Terry Cemetery in 1993, when she died at age 40. She was originally from Michigan, but married into the DeBord family of Grassy Knob. Her mother-in-law, Hazel Wright DeBord, was a sister to Flora Wright, who married Clyde Terry. Hazel married Bob DeBord, the son of Abigia DeBord (1905-1979) and Georgia Ann Shannon (1907-1996).
One of Bob and Hazel’s children was Richard “Dick” DeBord, who married Susan Ery. They lived in Robbins for several years, and had two daughters, Deana and Kristina. They divorced and Dick remarried.
In October 2025, Dick DeBord died at the age of 74 and was the last person, as of this writing, to be buried at the cemetery – the eighth burial there overall.
The other person buried at Terry Cemetery was Regan Warmanen, who died in 2004 at age 33.
Dick DeBord, 1951-2025
Susan Ery DeBord, 1952-1993
Clyde Terry, 1921-2001
Flora Wright Terry, 1928-2010
Maynard Terry, 1879-1937
Milo Terry, 1915-1918
Ollie Shoemaker Terry, 1889-1967
Regan W. Warmanen, 1970-2004
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◼️ Monday morning: The Daybreaker (news & the week ahead)
◼️ Tuesday: Echoes from the Past (stories of our history)
◼️ Wednesday: Threads of Life (obituaries)
◼️ Thursday evening: The Weekender (news & the weekend)
◼️ Friday: Friday Features (beyond the news)
◼️ Sunday: Varsity (a weekly sports recap)