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Taken from Sts. Cyril & Methodius Catholic Cemetery, Dubina, Texas, copyrighted 1998, with the permission of the author, Norman C. Krischke:
Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Cemetery was established 5 August 1866 upon burial of Jan Konvicka, 1813 - 1866, according to tombstone inscriptions and church history. Apparently Josef Peter, Sr., had envisioned this burial place, under a beautiful, giant live oak tree, as an honored place for the inhabitants of the Dubina Community. He had also planned to have members of the Peter family buried here. Although the land was private property, Josef Peter decided early to designate the grounds as a cemetery. The land was conveyed to the church eleven years later, on 26 February 1877. There were thirteen graves on the site when the land was transferred to the church.
It has been said that the cemetery was once an Indian burial ground based on the fact that when digging contemporary graves, human bones and Indian artifacts were found.
Christian Mass was said by visiting priests, Victor Gury of Frelsburg and others, in Josef Peter's double log house. The rock chimney and double fireplace of this house is still standing.
The place was first called "Navidad" and then "Bohemian Navidad". The Czechs, first to settle in a Texas community as a group, later named it "Dubina" because of the many oak trees in the area.
A definite line of cedar trees can be seen running north and south through the cemetery just east of the graves of Josef and Rozalia Peter. These trees were planted by Julius Peter, son of Joseph Peter, 1845-1924. The line of trees marked the west boundary of the cemetery until more space was needed and the cemetery was expanded. The cemetery cross was erected in 1929, donated by Jiri and Therezie Hromadka and children. Unfortunately there are over a hundred graves in the Church Cemetery without tombstones, marked only with grave frames of concrete or bricks.
Prior to the establishment of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cemetery, there was a place one mile south of the church used for the burial of at least seven early settlers. The location and names of people buried there are included in the notes below.
Many thanks to Bruce Berger for transcribing the following data from Norman Krischke's book for this site. A few updates have been made for more recent burials. Please contact Rox Ann Johnson with information on other burials.
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