The Machu Family in Texas patriarch and matriarch: Pavel and Rozina (Trlica) Machu

Pavel and Rozina had 9 children: Anna, Paul, Rosie, Joe R., Frances, Charles, Mary, Frank Louis, and John T. (he, his wife Veronika, and children are pictured here).

The Williamson County Historical Commission granted a historical marker to our 140 y.o. cemetery in 2013. The marker recognizes our Texas patriarch and matriarch, Pavel and Rozina (Trlica) Machu, their contributions to the development of the local community, and recounts the unique origin of the cemetery. For a more detailed history of the Machu Family CLICK HERE

Machu & Beard awarded by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

At the time of its relocation in 1975 Albin E. Machu envisioned a new home here that would be a "beautiful and a real peaceful place for generations to come. One the whole family can take pride in..." The newly organized Machu Cemetery Association Board of Directors erected this monument beside the front gate a decade later to recognize his tireless contribution toward making that vision a reality.

The cemetery grounds provide a gazebo for funeral attendees to gather beneath in times of inclement weather. An adjacent cross provides a corner for prayer and meditation for the grieving. Holiday observances like Easter Sunday and Memorial Day, or birthdays of the departed lead many family members to visit on such days and picnic beneath the gazebo while giving their younger generations an educational walking tour through rows and rows of ancestors.

Albin E. Machu's sons Eugene and Albin F. and grandson Terry Loessin are shown here installing the Texas Historic Cemetery marker prior to the dedication ceremony in 2013.

The research and application process for the cemetery's historical designation was prepared and submitted by Machu Cemetery Association board members Darwin and Nancy (Bryan) Machu. Active in the Texas Czech Genealogical Society, the pair have contributed much to the preservation of not only the Machu family's history but Czech culture statewide. Darwin, son of Anton & Millie (Kveton) Machu is shown (left) standing beside the Association's President Albin F. Machu (right) son of Albin E. & Vlasta Machu as the two prepare to unveil the Texas Historic Cemetery marker in 2013.

Over 200 guests attended the Dedication Ceremony for the new Historical Marker in 2013, including city officials and members of the Williamson County Historical Commission who granted the 'historic cemetery' designation.

The arched entry gate was provided along with this 3-acre site east of Granger by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1970s when the Old Friendship community's cemetery, and Allison, Beard and Machu family cemeteries had to be relocated, necessitated by the construction of Laneport Dam and the new lake that would cover their former locations.

From the time of its inception in 1901 when Pavel Machu and his Czech neighbors in the area laid its first cornerstone, the protestant Unity of the Brethren Church in Granger would be a central part of the Machu family's lives, all rites of passage, and social activity. In this photo of the denomination's state-wide convention in Granger on the occasion of the local parish's 50th anniversary are counted 20 Machu family members.

Pavel and Rozina were among the founding members of Granger's Lodge 20 of the Czech fraternal insurance group SPJST. Members posed here in front of the lodge hall, a city property the lodge purchased from Rozina in 1907. Photo taken by Pavel and Rozina's nephew John P. Trlica, the well-known Granger photographer.

In addition to the Machu surname, the cemetery reflects numerous other familiar surnames of the Czech immigrants who settled in Granger and proudly contributed to its agricultural development and establishment of institutions that were vital to the regions socio-economic growth and Czech culture’s preservation.

A cross stirs and inspires one's contemplations

Rubie Loessin (eldest daughter of Albin E. Machu) and her son Terry Loessin (eldest grandchild of Albin E. Machu) stand beside Pavel and Rozina's monument stone at the Machu Cemetery.

Sections 1 and 2 of the Machu Cemetery contain many unique headstones and markers bearing inscriptions and symbols that are in the family’s ancestral Czech language. Collectively, these late 19th and 20th century monuments bear witness to elements of the Czech-American culture, including its religious and fraternal organizations.

Also found here are a number of Czech-American veterans who proudly served in every major conflict of the 20th century.

While the cemetery began with the benevolent gesture of patriarch Pavel Machu to provide a place of burial on his property for a stranger, it is believed the first Machu relation to be buried at the original location was Katarina Safarik in 1892.