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A Columbia County Boy's Recollections and Memories of Columbia County Florida (2012) Lenvil H. Dicks

“DOC” MELTON

Another man who was quite influential in my life, and whom 1 greatly admired and appreciated was Mr.
G. T. “Doc” Melton.

Mr. Melton was the Gulf Oil Distributor in Columbia County for many many years, and my first cousin
Lola Mae Dicks Coleman was his secretary for almost ail of the time that he was handling the Gulf Oil
Distributorship.

Doc was almost Governor of the State of Florida. He was elected to serve in the Florida Legislature as
the Senator from Columbia County back in the days when each county had its own Senator, and 1 am
not sure how many terms “Doc” served as Senator, but 1 know it was more than one. The year before
Dan McCarty was elected Governor of Florida, Doc was elected to be the President of the Florida Senate
during the next term of the Legislature, at which time the new Governor would be in office.
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However, Doc had a heart attack and could not serve his next term as Columbia County’s Senator. Then,
and as I recall about 3 months after his inauguration, Dan McCarty died in Office. He only served a
short time. Had Doc been the President of the Senate at that time, he would have moved into the position
as Governor of the State.

However, since Doc could not serve, the Senate had elected a new Senate President, who was Charley
Johns from Starke, who was a Senator from Bradford County. Charley Johns thus became the Governor
upon the death of Dan McCarty, and really served the State quite well.

1 do not believe that there is dirt road anywhere in Bradford County or Union County, due to the fact
that Charley Johns had every road in both of those counties paved while he was Governor. Union
County until somewhere around 1930 had been a part of Bradford County, which stretched all the way
westward to Olustee Creek, just east of Lulu, and that was, at that time, the beginning of where Bradford
County began. Of course that is the point now at which Union County starts.

At the end of the term which Charley Johns had inherited upon the death of Dan McCarty, he ran for
re-election but was defeated, and only served the remainder of the McCarty term which was actually
about 45 months, more or less. I do not remember at this time who defeated Charley Johns in his attempt
at re-election, but I do know that Charley did not serve but the one term.

Incidentally, since those days they changed the Florida Constitution where we now elect a Lieutenant
Governor at the same time we elect a Governor, and upon the death of an incumbent Governor, the
Lieutenant Governor moves to that position.

I knew Doc Melton pretty well, although he was a good many years older than I, but Doc had bought a
farm about 3 miles east of where Columbia High School is located today, and that farm was known as
the “Old Wes Hancock Farm”. Along about the time that Doc got to the age where he was considering
selling that farm, I must have approached him about buying it on at least a half dozen different
occasions. Quite frequently I would run into Doc Melton at the Post Office and say “Doc are you ready
to sell me the Old Hancock Place yet” he would answer yea Lenvil I’ll sell it, what you willing to give
for it? I would make him an offer, but it would never be quite enough to satisfy him, and the first offer I

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