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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 186/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida

Blake, the daughter of university president Andrew Sledd, re­
called that Lieutenant Manny Taylor, who headed the local militia
unit, threatened to shoot any of the men who had gathered to try to
stop Sledd from leading the wagons of school materials to the
railroad depot for shipment out of Lake City. Sledd was in the lead
wagon, and the crowd held back as the books and records headed
for the new University of Florida in Gainesville.13 Many, but not
all, of the faculty moved with the school to Gainesville. H. K. Miller
and W. P. Jernigan, for example, moved to Jefferson County and
went into the pecan business, selling both nuts and young grafted
trees.14
The loss of the university was a serious blow to the pride and
the economy of the county. At the time of its closing the university
had a faculty of twenty-five and enrolled some three hundred and
fifty students. Some hope was retained when the Florida Baptist
Convention, which had been operating the Lake City Institute (also
called Lake-Side College), leased the buildings and grounds of the
university from Lake City and created Columbia College. The 335
acres of land and buildings of the university had been transferred
to the city for educational use in 1907. Columbia College operated
as a church-affiliated, private, co-educational college from 1907
until 1917 when it merged with Stetson University at DeLand,
Florida. Although the school was advertised as the “Baptist State
College of Florida,” church membership was not a requirement for
admission, and various Christian denominations were represented
in the student body. The school offered the A.B., B.S. and M.A.
degrees, and participated in intercollegiate sports in football,
basketball, and baseball. At the time of its transfer, the school had

MAnne Knight, “Keep Our School,” Lake City Reporter, December 13, 1974.
14Shofner, History of Jefferson County, p. 479.
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