Biography of Rufus T. Boozer, Lake City, Columbia County, FL

File contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by:  Nancy Rayburn (naev@earthlink.net).

USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE:  These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for 
profit or publication by any other organization or persons.  Persons or organizations 
desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the 
legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof 
of this consent.  The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the 
file permanently for free access.

Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm

******************************************************************************************

Transcribed from:  The History of Florida:  Past & Present, The Lewis Publishing Co., Vol. 
II, page 331, 1923.

BOOZER, RUFUS T.  In Mayor RUFUS T. BOOZER is found the dean in the active practice of law 
at Lake City, Florida, where he has been professionally engaged for over a quarter of a 
century, and in this connection and others has long been one of the prominent and influential 
men of Columbia County.  Although born in another state, his interests have so long been 
centered in Florida that in all essentials the Palmetto State can lay claim to him.

RUFUS T. BOOZER was born at Prosperity in Newberry County, South Carolina, August 28, 1866.  
His parents were Capt. HENRY S. and MARY ELIZABETH (YOUNG) BOOZER, both of whom are deceased.  
HENRY S. BOOZER was born in Newberry County, South Carolina, in 1833, and died in 1909.  He 
was a son of HENRY and MARY (SHEPPARD) BOOZER, the former of German extraction, although a 
native of South Carolina, and the latter a member of one of the oldest families in the state.  
Capt. HENRY S. BOOZER was an educator and also a substantial farmer.  When the war between 
the states came on he entered the Confederate Army as a private, and served with such valor 
that the end of the conflict found him serving with the rank of captain.  He was an honored 
citizen as long as he lived, served in such public offices as county superintendent of schools, 
kept up his warm interest in his old army comrades by participating with them in the Confederate 
Veterans' meetings, and throughout life was a consistent member of the Lutheran Church.  To 
his marriage with MARY ELIZABETH YOUNG, daughter of one of the large planters and slaveholders 
of Newberry County, the following children were born:  LILLIE, who is deceased, was the wife 
of F.L. PAYSINGER, of Newberry County; JOSEPH H., who was a merchant in New York City for many 
years; RUFUS THOMPSON; VIRGIL Y., who is a Lutheran minister at Leesville, South Carolina; and 
JULIET, who is the wife of J.P. WHEELER, of Prosperity, Newberry County.

RUFUS T. BOOZER attended the public schools of Prosperity, and after completing the high 
school course entered Newberry College, a Lutheran institution, where he continued into his 
sophomore year.  In 1885, when nineteen years old, he came to Florida and accepted a position 
as bookkeeper with the firm of James E. Young & Company at Lake City, a firm that is still 
in existence.  During the 8 ½ years he remained there in addition to faithfully performing 
his clerical duties, by private study and with six months under the preceptorship of County 
Judge W.M. IVES, prepared himself for the practice of law, successfully passed the bar examination, 
was granted his license in 1894 and at once entered into practice, forming a law partnership 
with Judge GUY GILLEN, now county judge of Columbia County, Florida.  This partnership existed 
for fifteen years.

Mr. BOOZER's first case was of a civil nature, and in his many years of practice has always 
declined criminal cases.  He has become eminent as a corporation lawyer, and in the many 
cases of litigation with which he has been identified no history has been made or precedents 
established on account of adverse decisions by a higher court.  Mr. BOOZER is attorney for 
the East Coast Lumber Company; the Gadsden County Tobacco Company; represents the Columbia 
Farms Corporations, a Virginia company which has holdings of several hundred thousand acres 
of land in this county.  The Young Realty Company, the James E. Young Company, the Leslie 
Lumber Company and the Lake City Bottling Company all are his clients, and he also represents 
the Watertown Bank, of which he is a director, and is also a director of the State Exchange 
Bank of Lake City.

As a citizen of Lake City, Mr. BOOZER spent many years as a member of the City Council and 
was a leader in its deliberations when many important measures were under consideration.  
He was a member of that body when, largely through his efforts, the first water and light 
plants were established, and was chairman of the Board of County Commissioners for sixteen 
years.  During this period the present court house was built, at a cost of $33,000, and the 
jail, at a cost of $9,000, careful business transactions making these expenditures favorable 
to the taxpayers, as was also the case in the erection of sixteen steel bridges throughout 
the county.  All this was done during those sixteen years without the issue of county bonds 
or material increase in taxes.  At the present time he is ably serving as mayor of Lake City, 
to which office he was elected in June, 1921, and by virtue of this is chairman of the City 
Commission of Lake City, he having taken a conspicuous part in securing a commission form 
of government for the city.  Politically he has always been identified with the democratic 
party.

Mayor BOOZER married at Lake City, Florida on June 20, 1889, Miss FANNIE HONORINE ROSS, who 
was born and educated here.  She is a daughter of ADOLPHUS A. and EMMA A. (FRANCIS) ROSS, 
the former of whom served as a soldier in the Confederate Army and afterward engaged in business 
at Lake City.  Mayor and Mrs. BOOZER have had children as follows:  VIRGIL R. who is a 
photographer with studio at Tampa, Florida, married Miss SADIE RISER, formerly an art teacher 
in Columbia College, and they have one son, VALE THOMPSON BOOZER; WALLACE H., who served in 
the World war in the Naval Reserve Corps, is now his father's law partner, and married Miss 
IVA POWELL, a graduate of the Lake City High School and a student in Columbia College; RUFUS 
L., who is a mechanic, is connected with the Hudson Motor Company of Lake City; and ELWIN C., 
who is a student in the city high school.

Mr. BOOZER has been an officer in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Lake City for thirty 
years, for many years served as superintendent of the Sunday School and continues teaching 
the Baracca Class.  He has taken a great deal of interest in Sunday School work, and on many 
occasions has addressed representative organizations of the same through the county.  He has 
never identified himself with any fraternal body, but has never felt any lack of warm sincere, 
well-wishing friends, where the only bond has been mutual esteem, courtesy and personal appreciation.