About the Historical Collection

By Amelia R. Parks

 

This collection consists of various paper documents, bound ledgers, notebooks, published books, and some ephemera. The vast majority of the collection is in Czech. Translations from the original Czech records into English by Kelly Zrubek are included in this collection. There is a wealth of information on daily church activities such as sermon notes, financial records, and meeting minutes. There are also records detailing the lives of congregation members; their births, deaths, marriages, baptisms, and history of immigration.

 

The bulk of the Granger Brethren records are from 1910 through the 1940s, however the actual date range is from 1902 – 1969. It is worth noting that the 1950s mark a time of transition for the church. Around this time Czech communities became less insular and began to assimilate more completely with mainstream Texas culture. This led the church to change the rules stating that religious services and records were to be in the English language instead of Czech.

 

The Brethren have a rich and beautiful tradition in song and use of the native Czech language. It is our sincere hope that we can honor their historical traditions through the creation of the archives and the translation efforts. The translations into English from Czech and the compilation style are not presented as a literary achievement. An accurate translation of the original material in Czech was attempted, but due to the difficulties of translation and penmanship, slight variences may exist. While reasonable efforts were made to provide translation into English, no liability and no responsibility is to be assumed for any errors, omissions, or ambiguities in the translations. It is our sincere desire that this partial revelation of over a century of writings in a foreign language may serve to spur others to do additional and more thorough research of the historical material still hidden within the early documents, meeting minutes, songbooks, and records.

 

Contained within this website are original records created by the church and its ministers. All of the historical material is written in the Czech language. Digital scans of the originals include a transcribed copy and the English translations all contained within the hosted document. We attempt to provide the viewer with information regarding where posted page fragments were taken from the original source register when possible.

 

As we are still in the development phase, please continue to check back on the Historic Church Records page for more information regarding the eArchives.