Anton
Anton was the ancestral village of three of our
Intermountain chapter members: Dee Hert,
Darrell Weber, and Sharon White. Sharon’s
ancestor, Michael Johann, was the first mayor of Anton.
Anton was founded on 7 September 1764 by the
government. The population in 1764 was
270. The Russian name for Anton was
Sebastianowka. There are several
variations of the spelling.
Anton was a Lutheran colony, located on the Bergenseite
of the Volga. The first mayor of Anton was Michael Johann, a farmer,
from Kurpfalz, Oberamt, Lindenfels, Germany.
Michael Johann was born in 1736.
Michael Johann’s wife, Eva Margaretha, born in 1734, and five daughters
were with him on his journey to Anton. Anton was part of the Messer parish. In 1856 a new church was built in the Kontor
style of architecture (dictated by the Saratov Kontor, the office for
administrating the colonies). The former
church is still standing and is now being used as a community cultural building. In 1798 there were 54 families in Anton with a total
population of 356: 177 males and 179 females.
In 1834 there were 103 families and a total population of 988 (488 males
and 500 females). In 1857 there were 146
families with a total population of 1,690 (828 males and 862 females).
