Cesko Narodni Hrbitov

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say, right here in Fayette County. Now, when Czech immigrants started putting down roots in this part of Texas, they didn't just build homes and plant fields. They built community.

And one of the first things a community needs, if it's going to last, is a place to take care of its own. The Cechomoravan Lodge No. 105 formed in Ellinger in 1884, part of a national fraternal society called the Cesko-Slovanska Podporujici Spolecnost, the C.S.P.S. for short. That organization existed for a purpose: to offer benefits to Czech immigrants trying to make their way in a new land.

That's no small thing. You're far from the old country, you're building something from scratch, and knowing there's a lodge behind you, that somebody's got your back, well, that matters. Then came 1897.

The Ellinger lodge joined with other Texas lodges, and together they formed something new, something Texan. They called it the Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas, the Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas, the S.P.J.S.T. A mouthful in any language, but a serious institution.

And right at the center of that founding moment was a man named Thomas Hruska. He had been a C.S.P.S. member, and when the S.P.J.S.T. stood itself up, he became the charter member and first president of Lodge Number One. The ground we're talking about, the Cesko Narodni Hrbitov, the Czech National Cemetery, later known as the Ellinger National Cemetery, that's where those early Czech settlers were laid to rest.

Including Thomas Hruska himself. A man who helped hold the living together now rests among the community he helped build. That's about as fitting an ending as Texas tends to give.

What the marker says

The Cechomoravan Lodge No. 105 formed in Ellinger in 1884 as part of the national Cesko-Slovanska Podporujici Spolecnost (C.S.P.S.) fraternal society, which offered benefits to Czech immigrants. In 1897, the Ellinger lodge joined other Texas lodges in a new group, the Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas (Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas), or S.P.J.S.T. The Cesko Narodni Hrbitov, or Czech National Cemetery, was later called Ellinger National Cemetery. It served as the burial ground for early Czech settlers, including Thomas Hruska, C.S.P.S. member, and charter member and first president of the S.P.J.S.T. Lodge #1. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2000