Six Mile Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Six Mile Cemetery, out there in Calhoun County. Now settle in, because this one's got layers. You start with one grave, and you end up with a whole community.

That's the kind of story a cemetery tells, if you know how to listen. The first known grave in this Czech-German settlement on Marekville belonged to Veranka Drgac, born in 1817, died in 1897. One grave, on a piece of ground that didn't even have its permanent name yet.

But the ground had a future. Two years after Veranka was laid to rest, in 1899, the Phillips Investment Company deeded five acres to the Marekville cemetery association. Five acres.

Room enough for a community to grow, and to grieve, and to remember. Then, around 1907, the area itself changed its name. The community became known as Six Mile, and the cemetery followed right along.

That's how the place you're hearing about got the name it carries today. Now, among those graves, one in particular catches the eye of anyone paying attention. Anton Machacek, born 1856, died 1931, had served in the Austro-Hungarian Army before he crossed the ocean and made his life in the United States.

He came a long way to find his rest in a Texas field. And he wasn't alone in carrying a soldier's history. Veterans of major American and international conflicts are also interred here, men and women who answered calls from more than one corner of the world.

By October of 1997, somebody walked that ground and counted. More than three hundred and fifty marked graves. And the counting isn't finished, because the cemetery isn't finished.

It still serves the community today, the same way it always has. One grave at a time, one life at a time, holding the whole story of a place.

What the marker says

The first known grave in Czech-German settlement on Marekville was that of Veranka Drgac (1817-1897). The five-acre graveyard was deeded to the Marekville cemetery association by the Phillips Investment Company in 1899. The area became known as the Six Mile Community around 1907; the cemetery name changed accordingly. Graves of interest include that of Anton Machacek (1856-1931), who served in the Austro-Hungarian Army before immigrating to the United States. Veterans of major American and international conflicts also are interred here. An October 1997 count recorded more than 350 marked graves in the cemetery, which continues to serve the community. (1998)