52W Mark IV – Week 43: Card L4 Jacob Anton

My Great Great Grandfather, Jacob Anton, is another one of my Germans from Russia whose ancestors originated near Karlsruhe, Germany. Most likely they were from Mörlheim, Landau, Rhinepalatinate, which is about 30 kilometers northwest of Karlsruhe. Jacob’s people settled in the Karlsruhe Colony of the Beresan District. It was located north of Odessa in what is now Ukraine, but at the time it was part of the Russian Empire.

Jacob was born on May 3, 1865 in Karlsruhe, where he grew up to be a farmer. Sometime before 1890 he married Margaretha (“Margaret”) Heck, most likely in Karlsruhe. Together they had ten children, the first five of whom were born in the Beresan.

The family remained in the Beresan until sometime in between February 1898 and April 1900. In that time, they moved to Selo Suchoi, Veronesch, Russia. My relatives told me that Selo Sochoi was a settlement of 12 or so families who all separately owned their own land. As I understand it from my own reading, a “selo” is a small settlement with a church, as opposed to a “derevnya”, which did not. In Selo Suchoi, Jacob and Margaret had five more children, including my Great Grandmother Emelia Anton.

The Antons remained in Selo Suchoi for just over ten years before emigrating for Canada. Jacob and his family sailed from Hamburg on June 18, 1912 aboard the S.S. Pennsylvania. They arrived at Ellis Island on July 1, 1912 – Dominion Day in Canada (now “Canada Day”). Their declared destination was Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, to join Jacob’s son and eldest child, Rochus Anton. The passenger manifest stated that Jacob paid for the entire family’s transport, other than his son Philip’s wife Rosa, whose passage was paid for by her father. In total, the family brought $6000 with them.

On July 31, 1912, Jacob applied for entry to land located at Southeast Section 22 Township 17 Range 24 West of the 3rd Meridian, which is due east of Fox Valley and not far south from the Rastadt Cemetery. The application noted that there were 12 people in the family – 5 adult males, 3 adult females, and 4 children under 12.

Affidavits filed in support of Jacob’s homestead application show that in the first three years of occupation, he broke 60 acres per year. The first year he cropped 60 acres, in 1913 he cropped 120 acres, and in the following four years he cropped 180 acres. Jacob did not own any stock animals during that time, although it appears that he obtained some in 1918. Jacob built a 30 x 30 wood frame house on the property, which was completed by August 1912. In 1918 the house was worth $2,000. He also built a stable and four granaries, along with a well valued at $100. Jacob was granted the patent for the land on January 13, 1919.

In the meantime, Jacob became a naturalized Canadian (British subject) on October 26, 1914.

Sometime in 1916 or 1917, Jacob and his brother Joseph, who had also moved to Canada, returned to the Beresan to sell land they still owned over there. They had success in selling to relatives but barely made it out before the 1917 revolution began. Moreover, one of the brothers apparently missed their passage out of Russia and had to remain behind for a time. To me, the whole idea of crossing the Atlantic and through Europe in the middle of World War I was not the wisest idea.

Jacob died in Fox Valley a few years later, on May 3, 1921. Jacob executed his will that same day, written in German. His sons Rochus and Phillip were named executors. At the time of his death, Jacob had a second piece of land, SE 8 Twn 17 Rng 24 W 3, in addition to the original piece of land he acquired by homestead after arriving in Canada (SE 22 Twn 17 Rng 24 W 3). Jacob also owned a full line of farm implements, fourteen horses, and sixteen horned cattle. The total value of the estate was $10,305.00.

The original piece of land was bequeathed to his son John Anton, who was to pay one-quarter of the value of the land to his brother, Rochus. The other property was left to his son Ralph, who was then to transfer half to his brothers Mathias and Jacob. Smaller cash amounts were left to Jacob’s wife, Margaret, and to his other seven children.

Jacob is buried at Rastadt Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Cemetery. Along with the school, which closed in 1970, the cemetery is the only thing that is left of Rastadt.