Frenstat Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Frenstat Cemetery, out in Burleson County. Now, picture this. The year is 1884, and a handful of Moravian Czech families are putting down roots in the Texas soil, carving out farms and building something from nothing.

They named their little community Frenstat, or Friendsted if you prefer, after Frenstat, Czechoslovakia, the place so many of them once called home. They brought their language, their faith, and their determination with them, and Texas was about to find out what that combination looks like. Three years on, in 1887, a man named Adolf Polansky and his wife Veronica made a decision that would shape this community for generations to come.

They deeded the land, twenty acres of it, for a school, a church, and a cemetery. And here's a detail worth holding onto: they did it for the sum of one hundred dollars. Not a fortune, not a gift outright, just a hundred dollars and a handshake with history.

The community got to work. They built Our Lady of Holy Rosary Catholic Church, and the cemetery that grew up alongside it went by several names over the years. Some called it St.

John's. Some called it Frenstat Catholic. Some called it Our Lady of Holy Rosary Cemetery.

A place with that many names tends to mean a lot to a lot of people. The first burial conducted by a priest was that of Frank Marek, who died in 1890. His was the first name recorded in that ground under the care of the Church, and the names have been accumulating ever since.

Military veterans, priests, hundreds of area residents, all of them laid to rest on those same twenty acres that Adolf and Veronica Polansky set aside for exactly this purpose. Today, that cemetery stands as a testament to the Czech heritage of the area. It's not just a burial ground.

It's a record of who these people were, where they came from, and what they built when they got here. That's a lot of story for one hundred dollars and twenty acres of Texas ground.

What the marker says

In 1884, several Moravian Czech families established farms in this area, naming the community Frenstat, or Friendsted, for Frenstat, Czechoslavakia. Alois and Veronica Polansky deeded 20 acres for a school, church and cemetery in 1887. The community built Our Lady of Holy Rosary Catholica Church and called the associated cemetery St. John's, Frenstat Catholic, or Our Lady of Holy Rosary Cemetery. The first burial by a priest was that of Frank Marek (d. 1890). Today, the cemetery is the final resting place of military veterans, priests and hundreds of area residents. It remains a testament to the area's Czech heritage. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004 Supplemental plate: Adolf (not Alois) and Veronica Polansky deeded the land for the Frenstat school, church and cemetery in 1887 for the sum of $100.