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Lake City, Florida: A Sesquicentennial Tribute (2009) H. Morris Williams, Dr. Kevin M. McCarthy

Local officials in the early 1900s

The police chiefs/ marshals that decade, as far as can be de-
termined, were B.F. Eaton (1898 - 1900) W.T. “Will” Strange
(1900 - see story below), Alvin E. Futch (1900 - 1903), Charles F.
Eaton (1903 - 1907), S.L. Clerk (1907 - 1908), W.S. Sweat (1908),
and J.C. Roberts (1908 - 1910). W.S. Sweat was named Lake
City’s Chief of Police in 1908 after promising to rid the city of illegal
“blind tiger” establishments, referring to those bars selling illegal whis-
key.

The murder of Marshal Strange

One of the tragic
events of the first decade
of the 20th century was
the killing of William T.
Strange by a robber in
1900. Born in 1869 in
Columbia County and
later married to Jane W.
Turner, Marshal Strange
was the Lake City town
marshal twice: 1890 -
1892 and 1899 - 1900.
His name is inscribed in
two places: first, on the
monument at Lake
DeSoto that has the
names of all the local law
enforcement officers who
have died in the line of
duty; and on the National Marshal William Strange
Law Enforcement Memo-
rial in Washington, D.C.
(East Wall, Panel 24, Line 11).

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