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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 261/340

Depression and War
the army while attorneys Brantley Brannon and Clarence Brown
entered the navy. Black was the first Florida public official to
enter military service during the war. Roy Ward left his auto­
mobile agency in Madison and joined the army. Many of the men,
of course, did not return and those that did had their lives
considerably disrupted by the war.17
On the home front the county was plunged into a flurry of
activity in support of the war effort. Many families had members
in the military. Air raid alerts and “blackouts” of street lights at
night brought a war atmosphere to the county. Service men in
Lake City were entertained by the U.S.O. (United Service Organi­
zation) at the Women’s Club, and boxes were packed for those
overseas. Home demonstration agent Elizabeth Dickenson, assisted
by home demonstration club women and volunteers, encouraged
self-sufficiency and was active in advocating and teaching home
canning. Many Columbia County women canned food for the first
time. City residents with their “victory gardens” and farmers alike
were encouraged to grow food, and the county’s agriculture was
well suited for family food production. Although some of the 1,400
farms in the county specialized in poultry, dairying, livestock or
gum, the majority were still general farming operations producing
corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, syrup, chickens, dairy products, and
gardens for home use.18

17 Anne Knight, “Lake Citians Off to Camp,” Lake City Reporter, December 13,
1974; Century in the Sun, pp. 42-44. Enlisted men of Company H at the time of its
mobilization were: E. C. Morrell, C. W. Register, C. L. Bedenbaugh, C. A. Crews, E.
G. Bedenbaugh, C. E. Cason, S. H. Davant, M. M. Moore, D. S. DeVerges, C. W.
Fralick, R. L. Smith, N. E. Pearce, R. L. Montague, N. R. Greene, A. F. Markham,
H. C. Brooks, A. A. Bryan, R. C. Blanton, S. J. Bryan, L. W. Rosier, D. P. Rogers, W.
M. Bryan, F. H. Nalls, C. H. Tice, R. Rivers, W. R. O’Cain, V. L. Atkinson, E. C.
Roberts, J. D. Hunter, H.‘F. Hilliard, A. C. Witt, J. B. Stuart, J. M. Hilliard, A. G.
Markham, P. Moses, H. C. Croft, F. T. Robertson, J. L. Sheppard, J. W. Waldron, E.
P. Chassereau, R. E. Gray, W. L. Purdy, C. Horne, H. F. Hogan, S. S. Register, R. L.
Daughtrey, F. D. Knox, E. C. Johnson, 0. H. Carter, C. Johnson, J. L. Roberts, R. A.
Crews, E. J. Moses, D. D. Roberts.
l8Anderson, “The History of the Extension Home Economics Program,” pp.
6-7; Board of County Commissioners, “Narrative Report,” December 1, 1942,
Folder C, County Commissioners File 1942-1943.
197

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