Historical Marker · No. 423
The Pioneer Chapel and Český Bratří Cemetery
Fillmore County · Nebraska
Erected by Český Bratří Cemetery Assn. & Donors, Fillmore County Foundation and Nebraska State Historical Society
Not all of Milligan's Czechs worshipped here. Historian Bruce Garver counted as many as 55 percent of Czechs on the Plains as freethinkers who had cut their ties with organized religion. Near Exeter in 1887 freethinkers founded Lodge Rabi of the C.S.P.S. benevolent society, moved it to Milligan the next year and in 1890, the year St. Wenceslaus was built, put up a small frame hall in town. Rabi joined the breakaway Western Bohemian Fraternal Association, the Z.C.B.J., in 1897, and Milligan's lodges later built the 1929 Cesko-narodni sin, an auditorium on the National Register since 1996.
What the plaque says
The Pioneer Chapel and Český Bratří Cemetery Many immigrants in Glengary Township and the surrounding area were Catholics of Czech and Irish descent. During the early years few priests were available, so they visited the community whenever possible beginning in 1874. Local parishioners conducted prayer services regularly when priests were not present. The chapel, the first permanent house of worship in Fillmore County, was built in the 1870s on the Josef Kotas farm northwest of this cemetery. A successor church, St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, was erected in the newly formed town of Milligan in 1890. Burials commenced here before Anton Švec purchased the property from the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in 1878. He deeded two acres for a cemetery to his Czech brethren in 1887. Although known locally in earlier years as the Catholic Cemetery, and later as the North Cemetery, it was incorporated as the Český Bratří (Czech Brethren) Cemetery Association in 1904. The chapel was moved to the cemetery from the Kotas farm in 1901. The building was restored and dedicated as the Pioneer Chapel in 1998. Český Bratří Cemetery Assn. & Donors Fillmore County Foundation Nebraska State Historical Society
Where it stands
40.50993, -97.40603 · Directions