SPJST Moravia Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the SPJST Moravia Cemetery, out in Lavaca County, Texas. Now, every good Texas town has a founding story, and Moravia's is worth sittin with for a spell. It starts with immigrants from northeastern Moravia, in what is now the Czech Republic, who made their way to this corner of Lavaca County and put down roots.

The town itself was founded by Jakub Hollub and his son-in-law Ignac, also known as J. E. Jalufka, when the two of them established a store in 1881.

They named the community after the homeland they'd left behind. That right there tells you something about these people. They carried the old country in their hearts even as they were buildin something new.

And build they did. A town grew up quick around that store. A blacksmith shop.

A gin. A school. More besides.

The kind of place that says people intend to stay. Then, in 1897, something else took root. SPJST Lodge No. 23, Nova Morava, was established as a charter member of SPJST, the Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas, which is a non-denominational Czech fraternal organization.

The first members were immigrant farmers, storekeepers, and teachers, meetin together at the Moravia High School. These were workin people, community people, people who understood that you look after your own. In January of 1914, the group built themselves a lodge hall.

And then, in 1922, they made a decision that would outlast all of them. They decided to establish a cemetery. On May 8th of that same year, SPJST Lodge No. 23 purchased one and a half acres of land from a man named Frank Blahuta.

Now here's the part that quiets a room. The first burial in this cemetery is that of Willie Trojcak. Willie was one and a half years old when he passed away on September 10, 1923.

Just a year and a half on this earth. And this ground, so newly consecrated, received him first. You don't forget a detail like that.

Over the decades, the cemetery gathered more of its community. Veterans of World War I, World War II, and the Persian Gulf War are buried here. Catholic and non-Catholic members alike.

SPJST members provided funeral and burial services in the Czech language, keepin the old tongue present even in those final moments. The headstones, granite and marble, are oriented feet-to-east, bordered by pastures and a fence, with natural vegetation growin around them. Originally, the cemetery was reserved for members of Lodge No. 23 and their families.

Now, anyone may purchase a lot. The circle, as they say, has widened. These burials, the marker tells us, provide a history of SPJST Lodge No. 23 Czech-Moravians and their families.

That's the plain truth of it. A store opened in 1881, a lodge organized in 1897, a hall built in 1914, a cemetery purchased in 1922, and a little boy named Willie laid to rest in 1923. The whole arc of a community is written right there in the ground, in granite and marble, oriented toward the east, waitin on the mornin.

What the marker says

IMMIGRANTS FROM NORTHEASTERN MORAVIA (CURRENT CZECH REPUBLIC) SETTLED IN THE AREA PRESENTLY KNOWN AS MORAVIA, TEXAS. MORAVIA WAS FOUNDED BY JAKUB HOLLUB AND HIS SON-IN-LAW IGNAC (J. E.) JALUFKA WHEN THEY ESTABLISHED A STORE IN 1881. THEY NAMED THE COMMUNITY AFTER THEIR HOMELAND OF MORAVIA. A TOWN QUICKLY GREW WITH A BLACKSMITH SHOP, A GIN, A SCHOOL, STORE AND MORE. SPJST LODGE NO. 23 NOVA MORAVA WAS ESTABLISHED AS A CHARTER MEMBER OF SPJST (SLOVANSKA PODPORUJICI JEDNOTA STATU TEXAS), A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CZECH FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION, IN 1897. THE FIRST MEMBERS OF THE LODGE CONSISTED OF IMMIGRANT FARMERS, STOREKEEPERS AND TEACHERS WHO MET AT THE MORAVIA HIGH SCHOOL. THE GROUP BUILT A LODGE HALL IN JANUARY 1914 AND, IN 1922, DECIDED TO ESTABLISH A CEMETERY. ON MAY 8, 1922, SPJST LODGE NO. 23 PURCHASED ONE AND A HALF ACRES OF LAND FROM FRANK BLAHUTA. THE FIRST BURIAL IN THIS HISTORIC CEMETERY IS THAT OF WILLIE TROJCAK, WHO WAS ONE-AND-A-HALF WHEN HE PASSED AWAY ON SEPTEMBER 10, 1923. SEVERAL VETERANS FROM WORLD WAR I, WORLD WAR II AND THE PERSIAN GULF WAR ARE BURIED HERE. THE CEMETERY IS BORDERED BY PASTURES AND A FENCE, AND INCLUDES GRANITE AND MARBLE HEADSTONES ORIENTED IN A FEET-TO-EAST POSITION WITH NATURAL VEGETATION. ORIGINALLY, THE CEMETERY WAS ESTABLISHED AS A BURIAL PLACE FOR MEMBERS OF LODGE NO. 23 AND THEIR FAMILIES BUT NOW ANYONE MAY PURCHASE A LOT. BURIALS INCLUDE CATHOLIC AND NON-CATHOLIC MEMBERS. SPJST MEMBERS PROVIDED FUNERAL AND BURIAL SERVICES TO ITS MEMBERS IN THE CZECH LANGUAGE. THE BURIALS HERE PROVIDE A HISTORY OF SPJST LODGE NO. 23 CZECH-MORAVIANS AND THEIR FAMILIES.