Page 232 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams

John Paul built a saw mill near the town of Lake City, which had a
population then about two thousand. He established a bank, an ice plant,

a bottling plant, a depot, and a commissaiy there.

The area, where he also built his home, was known as Watertown. It was

also known as the headquarters of the East Coast Lumber Company,
which was owned and operated solely by the Paul family until its

dissolution in 1929.

After the death of John Paul around the turn of the century, management

of the lumber company fell to his three sons, his grandson explained.

With the profits they reaped, the Paul’s bought tobacco lands in Quincy,

Florida, and a 10,000-acre plantation in Cuba. A cousin of Sandy Paul
managed the Cuban estate until it was taken over by Fidel Castro in

1959.

The East Coast Lumber Company hired convicts from the state stockade
to work on their lands, as well as guards and bloodhounds to maintain

security.

In addition, Paul noted, a number of families moved from north of the

Lake City area to take advantage of the job opportunities made available
by the lumber company. A qualified doctor, persons to work in the

commissary, and others to run the several plants in Watertown were
badly needed and were recruited by the family.

“Those who worked for the East Coast Lumber Company were paid in
chits that they used at the commissary to buy their goods,” Paul said. In

essence, he explained, Watertown had become a company town where
all who lived there worked for the company and depended upon its

success for their own livelihoods.

During this period of fortune, the lives led by the members of the Paul

family typified those of persons who had time on their hands and money
in their pockets. By the onset of the “Roaring Twenties”, the family

224
www.LakeCityHistory.com LCH-UUID: 644B81FB-81A1-47B2-8D77-49DC2A1A0BE8