CLAY COUNTY – Col. Raymond L. Dollings once referred to his 14,000 acres southwest of the City of Green Cove Springs as a “food factory rather than a farm." With six miles of riverfront property, two railroad stations and five artesian wells, the property on the St. Johns River was perfectly situated to produce all the crops needed to sustain the livestock on the farm.

Gail Borden (of condensed milk fame) previously owned the land. The new deed was filed Nov. 5, 1916. Dollings called it Walkill Farm after Gail Borden’s Walkill Farm in New York. One of the first things Col. Dollings did was enclose the land using 44 miles of fencing. In the first year, a steam-powered stump puller cleared 1,000 acres.

Originally from Ohio, Dollings was a very successful stockbroker, investor and self-made millionaire. He owned part of one of the largest insurance agencies in Ohio and had holdings in all sorts of businesses, including the stock farm. He had humble beginnings, however, starting out as a reporter for the local newspaper. He fancied himself as an organized, driven man and intended to run the farm that same way. His business philosophy was that the farm was not a hobby – it must earn its keep, paying dividends to make it a worthwhile investment.

Dollings also thought working smarter, not harder, was the way to go. “I sometimes think that manufacturers make a mistake in placing much value on common labor— don’t we want uncommon labor?,” he once reflected. So, his farm workers were trained to be experts at their jobs, whether it be herding cattle or fixing farm machinery. “There is a right way and a wrong way,” he said, “an expert post hole digger is not put on a plow and cussed out for not knowing his job.”

The stock farm was raising Hereford and Shorthorn cattle, plus powerful 1,400-pound Percheron horses and Belgian brood mares that were serviced by Florida cracker horse stallions. There were Duroc hogs, sheep and even angora goats, which were a real novelty. The goats were raised for their beautiful coat, known as mohair.

While Dollings was the moneyman behind the farm, the general manager was Helen “H.J.” Wagener. She was a first-generation German American who ran the farm with precision and efficiency, like a finely tuned Mercedes-Benz. She once worked as Dollings’ secretary in Ohio.

Wagener would mount a horse and inspect the farm daily. The crops raised on the farm were mostly to provide feed for the animals, making the farm sufficient. In 1918, 200 acres of sweet potatoes were planted and over 2,000 hogs were sent to market. Soybeans, velvet beans, corn, millet, sorghum, sugar cane and hay were grown. Rice, for human consumption, was one of the crops, too. It was irrigated by the artesian wells.

In 1920, Wagener put in 200 acres of rice and got a yield of 1,500 to 2,000 pounds an acre. Her plan was to increase the rice acreage to 1,000 acres. All of these crops were grown using steam-powered John Deere plows and conventional mule-drawn plows. An ad in a 1918 newspaper had the farm selling off one of its “engine plows” for $300. Today, a large tractor and plow attachments can cost well north of $50,000.

One of the more valuable herds raised were the angora goats. These goats were hard to come by, but Dollings managed to raise a herd of about 2,000 goats. One goat could produce five to 10 pounds of hair a year. Mohair was fashioned into clothing, hats, rugs, furniture upholstery, and, oddly enough, curly false hair (wigs). The flock was shorn twice a year, first in March then in September. One year, the herd produced an average of five pounds of hair per goat, and the hair sold for 83-cents a pound. There was a great demand for mohair, but the goats were also sold for meat.

Meanwhile, back at Dollings’ headquarters near Cincinnati, his financial empire was crumbling. Dollings’ expertise in using other people’s money to make money for himself sometimes backfired. For all his plans and business philosophy, he wasn’t good at maintaining the bottom line, and he declared bankruptcy in 1922. He went from being a millionaire to flat broke at age 50. He was kicked off the boards of some companies, including the insurance firm.

The main reason he went broke was due to an investment involving 60,000 acres outside of Green Cove Springs called the Southern Cattle Feeding Company. The Florida land boom was petering out, and they couldn’t unload the place. Overvalued, it was bleeding money. Eventually, JC Penney bought the land owned by the feeding company and Penny Farms was founded there instead. There were claims of hidden assets and defrauding of creditors. Right before filing bankruptcy, Dollings transferred ownership of his house to his father, prompting the bankruptcy trustee to sue his father, him and his siblings. His claims of having bought the house in 1914 and forgetting to file the deed until 1922 fell on deaf ears.

Creditors quickly seized Walkill Stock Farm to protect their equity in the 14,000 acres. Liabilities were listed at $338,159 with assets of $4,097,000. Dollings was land rich but cash poor. Most of these investors were ordinary farmers and ranchers from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, so the common man lost out the most. And, to add insult to injury, Dollings wasn’t even a legitimate colonel.

For more information about this topic or about anything related to Clay County history, please contact Clay County Clerk of Court’s Historical Archives Division personnel at (904) 371-0027 or by email at clayarchives@clayclerk.com.

The Archives Center is part of the Old Jail at the county’s Historic Triangle at 21 Gratio Place, Green Cove Springs, 32043 and is open Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., minus holidays. You can stop by to take a self-guided tour of the Old Jail or to seek research assistance from the staff.