Founder’s Day festivities

Hilary Anthony and Beth Anthony Plough are descendants of Col. E. C. Anthony, for whom the town of Anthony is named. They attended the May 16, 2026, Founder’s Day: Rails to Ranches – 150 Years of Anthony celebration in Anthony. [Susan Smiley-Height/Ocala Gazette] 2026

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Posted May 19, 2026 | By Susan Smiley-Height, [email protected]

Anthony Community Park and the adjacent Anthony Woman’s Club were abuzz with activities on May 16 in commemoration of the town of Anthony’s 150^th anniversary.

The Founder’s Day: Rails to Ranches, 150 years of Anthony, Florida, event was hosted by the Anthony Historical Society. It drew numerous people eager to learn more about the small town’s history and visit vendor booths, hear live entertainment and enjoy socializing and playing games under blue skies and a warm sun.

Inside the woman’s club building, historic displays included photographs, albums filled with memorabilia and a set-up of the town showing its early railroad days, erected by members of the Ocala Model Railroaders’ Historic Preservation Society.

Sitting at a long table perusing some of the documents were Hilary Anthony, from Oregon, and her sister Beth Anthony Plough, from Lakeland, who are descendants of Col. E.C. Anthony, for whom the town is named.

Anthony can trace its beginnings to the mid-1800s, when a migration of settlers from South Carolina into Marion County began. Among those pioneering families were the Leitners, who settled in several communities within Marion County. According to Annabelle Leitner, who lives with her sister Nancy on the family’s pioneer heritage farm in Shiloh, in northwest Marion County, and who is a noted local historian, the name of Anthony can be traced to Col. E. C. Anthony from Muncie, Indiana.

“Jacob Leitner and his wife Charlotte Souter Leitner were my great-great-grandparents. Jacob is the one who, according to Leitner family tradition, sold one of his plantations to Col. Anthony for what was to become Anthony Place, then later Anthony,” Leitner explained. 

“We are the second granddaughters of Edwin Clark Anthony, who left Muncie, Indiana, in 1867 and came down here and bought some land from Jacob Leitner. And then his son, Samuel, also came down here and bought some land. Edwin bought land from several people, here and in Sumter and in Polk (counties). He bought a total of about 1,500 acres,” said Hilary Anthony.

“Samuel set up a boarding house here and Edwin kind of came back and forth. They invested in citrus; they invested in phosphate. Edwin was a real horse aficionado, like his brothers, into harness racing. Edwin was the only child of a very rich man up in Muncie and was kind of living large,” she added.

“Edwin’s daughter, Florence, married Henry Swain and his brother was Earl Swain, and those descendants are close to the Swains who are still here. So, Samuel was our great-grandfather and he is buried here in the cemetery. He had four children. He died in 1915, as did Florence. All of Samuels’ kids were out of Florida by 1924. Our grandfather was the last to leave after he lost money on a celery deal and took his family, including our dad, and moved to Houston,” Hilary explained.

“Then dad moved back here when we were little, after he had been in the service. So, we grew up knowing about Anthony and visiting the cemetery and the church. Dad was very involved with the Anthony Methodist Church in the 1970s. He attended the homecoming. We don’t have a really tight relationship with the town but definitely have interest in it. Dad was a real family history buff and liked the town a lot; he was very proud of it. He and our mom are buried here, so it’s just a special thing,” she offered.

Outside in the park, there were numerous booths set up, including those manned by political hopefuls, churches, nonprofits and other organizations.

“We had a great and receptive turnout. There were so many who came from near and far. The crowd was considerate of others around them. The politicians were friendly and informative about what they are ready to do if they get elected. Some made a visit to every vendor making themselves known and answering questions,” said Priscilla Lewis-Swinton, a member of the historical society and the descendant of families in the nearby communities of Mt. Olive, Sugarhill and Irving.

“I found out that I was related to some people I have known throughout my life. I enjoyed some of the music and getting to see people I had not seen since high school. The highlight of my day was giving a little boy one of my wooden crosses that I had for decoration that he really, really, wanted, and also sharing my blessed prayer clothes with those who desired them and praying for those who passed by my table and asking God to let the day be safe and good for the future,” she added.

Janet Mitchell-Silverhawk, whose family settled in the area pre-1845 and who is of Muskogee and Cherokee and Shosone descent, also is a member of the Anthony Historical Society. She greeted visitors at the Mt. Olive African Methodist Episcopal Church booth, along with Geraldine Hamilton and Trisha Neasman.

“We are all descendants of families of Irving,” Mitchell-Silverhawk noted. “We had a fantastic turnout and hope to do this again.”

Bertha Krietemeyer Flynn, who was raised in Anthony, is a descendant of Jacob Leitner and president of the Anthony Historical Society. She and Shelia Castro, vice president of the society, worked for nearly two years to organize the Founder’s Day event. On Saturday, both were busy greeting guests and talking about their beloved town.

Flynn later said of the event, “I am very pleased with the turnout and hope that everyone had a good time and learned a little bit of Anthony history.”

“I want to thank the Anthony Women’s Club and the Anthony Community Park for their help in making this event a success. I also want to thank my daughter, Heather Flynn, for organizing all the vendors and making sure they were set up and happy. Additionally, thank you to everyone who attended our planning meetings and helped make the event run so smoothly and to our music leader Brion Kenyon,” she added.

As for why it’s important to preserve local history, Castro said in a previous “Ocala Gazette” feature article, “So many towns fade away, but Anthony is 150 years strong and we’d like to keep going.”

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