Also known as the Ross Prairie Czech Moravian Brethren Church Cemetery
The Fayetteville Brethren Church Cemetery of Ross Prairie & Fayetteville has recorded deaths from 1875 to 2005. There are 296 graves with records of who is buried and where; there are 37 unknown (UK) graves – we do not know who is buried there or if anyone is buried there. The oldest marked grave belongs to Katerina Jecmenek who died Nov 17, 1875. The last burial was held on January 1, 2006 for Ellen Martinek Kubena, who died on Dec 30, 2005.
The first service of the Czech-Moravian-Brethren settlers was held in 1855. They organized in 1870 and the cemetery came into existence between 1874 and 1875. Before that date, the members were buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery (also known as Ross Prairie Cemetery) just up the road from where the Fayetteville Brethren Church is today.
From the Historic Texas Cemetery Marker:
FAYETTEVILLE BRETHREN CEMETERYOriginally known as the Czech-Moravian Brethren Evangelical Cemetery at Ross Prairie, this site serves Texas' second oldest congregation of the Unity of the Brethren, whose members settled here in the early 1850's. This group hosted the first Czech worship service in the state in 1855. In 1870, the congregation was formally organized, and one year later the educational society, Osveta, established the first Czech-English school in Texas in this community. In 1874, Thomas (1844-1925) and Katerina (1840-1882) Jecmenek donated land on which to build a church, a parish house and a school. They also set aside land for this cemetery. A number of unmarked graves exist here, but the earliest dated stone is that of Katerina Roznovak Jecmenek (1850-1875), wife of Thomas' brother, Martin (1852-1885). Significant to church membrs is the grave of Reverend Jindrich Juren (1850-1921), who was called here in 1876, serving the congregation as pastor and schoolmaster for some 45 years. Veterans of our nation's wars who are honored here include one Confederate soldier, Jan (Johann) Hruska (1831-1894). Chronicled in this churchyard are the lives of the pioneers and generations of families that are the heritage of the Ross Prairie area of Fayette County. - 1999
The cemetery also contains this historical marker:
THE REV. JINDRICH JUREN
Jindrich (Henry) Juren was born in Hradiste, Bohemia, on March 20, 1850. A Protestant minister's son, he studied theology at several universities and became fluent in Czech, English, German, French, and Polish. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1876 as the newly-ordained pastor of the Ross Prairie Czech-Moravian Brethren Church. He served locally and traveled by horse and buggy and train to Czech congregations throughout Texas. Also a public schoolteacher for 40 years, Juren was a revered leader in Ross Prairie and the statewide Czech community. He was buried here in the churchyard cemetery in 1921.
Most of the information below is taken from church records, but thirty-three unknown burials (marked with asterisks below) come from the following records:
* Register Records of the Czech-Moravian Brethren ROSS PRAIRIE; Rev. Jindrich Juren for the period 1875-1900 (1980).
**Czech Moravian Brethren Register Records of Rev. Jindrich Juren 1900-1921 (1992).All of this information and the following up-to-date list of burials in the cemetery were contributed by Elizabeth J. Ripple.
06/16/1968 74 23
NOTES:
Photo of WWI veteran Josef W. Jecmenek's marker contributed by Brenda Simek. According to Rev. Frank Horek's funeral book, Joseph died on January 26, 1919 of pneumonia at his home in Cat Springs, Texas at the age of 29. He was buried at the Ross Prairie Cemetery on January 28, 1919. He left a wife and small daughter. His wife never re-married.
Rudolph Kotrla marker photo from Jon CantrellRelated Links
