The Little Cemetery on the Corner

Seven miles south and one mile east of Clarkson, on the northwest corner of the intersection, is a small cemetery, measuring perhaps 175’ X 275’.  The cemetery was established on land donated at the end of the 19^th century by Joseph and Mary Sousek, hence its name – the Sousek Cemetery.  This quiet little acre of land on the windswept prairie has been the final resting place for a handful of Czech immigrants and their descendants since 1897.

When I was a boy, my country schoolhouse was just down the road from the cemetery.  Twice a day, on the way to school and back again, my chums and I passed by this quiet little acre.  Whether walking or on our bikes, it was a convenient place to stop and linger for a few minutes.   Just outside the fence, in the shade of the grand old Austrian (or Scotch?) pines, we would reconstruct the day’s events, finish the conversations that had been interrupted by the school bell, and make plans for the next day.  Then we would split up and head home in different directions, returning to our farms and the chores that awaited us.  I, at least, gave little thought to the occupants of the cemetery who had been interred there long ago.  Some of them were Cadas like me, but they had passed away long before I showed up.  Nor did I give much thought to the fact that most of the beautiful marble gravestones did not have Christian crosses, or that the orientation of the graves were in a north-south line (unlike the Christian custom of orienting graves on an east-west line).

The Sousek Cemetery, as it turns out, was the final resting place for Freethinkers – people who were decidedly not Christian, or if they held Christian beliefs, did not subscribe to an Institutional Church.  Some of the members, among them my great-grandparents, belonged to the Česka Svobodná Obec (Society of Freethinkers), which offered secular baptisms, marriages, and funerals to its members.  While it is a rare term today, Freethinkers were very common and influential among the Czech immigrants to the United States in the 19^th Century.  One historian believes that they constituted the majority of Czechs:

“In 1910 freethinkers, including socialists, constituted slightly over half of the Czech-speaking American population of 531,193, Catholics at least forty percent, and Protestants no more than five percent.”  (Garver 1993).

Books have been written about the Freethinkers and their German counterparts, the Turners.  The “what” and the ”why” of Freethinkers is a complicated and interesting story, and I intend to post more about them in the future when I take up the subject of the Sokols and the Czech fraternal societies.  But this information sent to me by Eleanor Sousek Loseke (a direct descendent of the land donors) is as good a summary as I have seen:

“Czechs immigrants brought with them an especially complex and troubled religious heritage. Although the majority had been nominal Catholics in their homeland, loyalty to the church was often associated with the oppressive Hapsburg (Austrian) monarchy that had persecuted native Czech Protestants after defeating their forces at the decisive 1620 Battle of White Mountain. In addition, many of the immigrants had been influenced by the Czech Freethought movement (Svobodomyšlení), which was popular among Czech nationalists in Europe in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Both the fraternal lodges and Sokol were associated with Freethought in the early years of their history. A majority of the early Czech settlers can probably can be classified as freethinkers, but only a few were militant atheists or agnostics. Much more common was a vague anticlericalism or an indifference to religion.”  (from the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture).

Not to be outdone by the Christians, the Freethinkers even had their own creed:

Anyway, back to the Sousek Cemetery.  Not all of those buried there were non-Christian. But they were neighbors in life as well as in death – the names on the gravestones can be found in the plat of landholders from 1899 that I posted above.

An association continues to maintain the Sousek Cemetery and its graves.  In 1997 the Midland Bohemian Slavonic Cemetery Association  commemorated the 100th anniversary of the cemetery by renovating the fence and erecting a marker.

For the record, here is the list of graves that were recorded in 1976.  There have been more burials since that time.

STATE: Nebraska                COUNTY:  Colfax

SECTION: SE1/4 SE1/4 of 17     TOWNSHIP: 19 (Midland) RANGE 3E

RECORDED BY: Clarabelle Mares 1722 E 19 Fremont, Ne 68025

ASSISTED BY: Kathrine Petersen 1650 N Clarkson Fremont NE 68025

DATE RECORDED: 23 May 1976

INDEX

Beran, Marie                          P 2

Cada, Anna                            P 1

Cada, Edward                          P 1

Cada, Frank                           P 1

Cada, Jan                             P 1

Cada, John                            P 1

Cada, Karlicek                        P 1

Hejtmanek, Frant                      P 1

Hejtmanek, Terezie                    P 1

Holoubek, Jan                         P 2

Holoubek, Marie                       P 2

Hruska, Augusta                       P 2

Hruska, Jan                           P 2

Hruska, Sylvia                        P 1

Kment, Anton                          P 1

Kment, Cenek                          P 1

Kment, Katerina                       P 1

Kment, Mary                           P 1

Kudera, Child                         P 1

Kudera, Dau                           P 1

Kudera, Frantiska                     P 2

Kudera, Josef                         P 2

Kvetensky, Anna                       P 2

Novotny, Milovana                     P 1

Sousek, Anton E                       P 2

Sousek, Antonin                       P 1

Sousek, Jan                           P 2

Sousek, Joseph                        P 1

Sousek, Kristina                      P 1

Sousek, Mary                          P 1

Section 1

Row 1  east to west

Sylvia Hruska

31 Jan – 19 May 1901

Mary Sousek                           Joseph Sousek

1 Jan 1857  9 Dec 1936                Mokre Lhotice Kraj Chrudimsky=Cechach

14 Feb 1856  4 Sep 1902

Row 2  west to east

Frank Cada                            Mary Cada

2 Feb 1827  22 Jan 1908               13 Jul 1831  6 Jan 1912

John Cada                             Edward Cada

1903 – 1968                           1893 – 1975 WW I Pvt U.S. Army

Anton Kment                           Mary Kment

1834 – 1909                           1852 – 1929

Row 3  east to west

Antonin Sousek                        Kristina Sousek

8 Jun 1825  4 Aug 1913                13 Sep 1829  13 Feb 1901

Jan Cada                              Anna Cada

1861 – 1941                           1870 – 1931

Row 4  west to east

Cenek Kment                           Katerina Kment

5 Jan 1830  10 Apr 1909               7 Apr 1827  26 Sep 1898

Milovana Dceruska daughter of Anton & Marie Novotny

28 Oct 1889  15 Nov 1889

Row 5

Karlicek Cada

5 Oct 1902  6 Oct 1902

Section 2

Row 1  east to west

Frant. Hejtmanek                      Terezie Hejtmanek

1841 – 1913                           1841 – 1927

Dau Kudera

b & d 1950

unmarked grave

Nemluvne Manzelu

F J & A Kudera -no dates

Row 2  west to eaet

Augusta Hruska                        Jan Hruska

13 May 1881  26 Aug 1900              26 Sep 1835  16 Dec 1898

Jan Sousek

no dates

Row 3  east to west

Anton E Sousek

19 Feb 1920  21 Jan 1925

Josef Kudera                          Frantiska Kudera

27 Jul 1854  16 Oct 1918              27 Dec 1856  26 Aug 1918

Ditky rodicu

Children – no name or dates

Row 4  west to east

Jan Holoubek                          Marie Holoubek

d 18 Nov 1897  42 yrs                 d 25 Sep 1900  41 yr 5 mo

Row 5

Marie Beran, wife Janna Beran

Bohemia 1870  d 13 June 1904

Row 6

Anna Kvetensky, Grandmother

1839 – 1924

May they rest in peace.