Our Founder, Annie H. Darracott

Annie at age 9

(Photos courtesy Lakeland Public Library Special Collections)

She was a child when the War Between the States began.
Her father, J.E. Hanna, served with Company B, 4th Alabama Regiment.
When General Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, her father was in a hospital at Madison, GA.
No doubt Annie and her family experienced many hardships during those years.
Anna and her husband, Thomas Jefferson Darracott, were pioneer settlers in Lakeland, FL,
having moved here from Thomasville, GA in 1895.
Annie H. Darracott is particularly honored for founding the Lakeland chapters of the
United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1904 and the
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution in 1925.
She also helped organize other groups in Lakeland: the Women's Foreign Missionary Society,
Womens Christian Temperance Union, and the Colonial Dames of the 17th Century.
Active in civic, religious and patriotic organizations throughout her life,
Annie organized and raised funds for a Confederate soldier memorial.
The monument, erected in Lakeland's Munn Park, was dedicated on June 3, 1910.
In 1945, the Lakeland UDC changed its name to the Annie H. Darracott Chapter in her honor.
Annie died May 21, 1956 at the age of 95.
She left her mark on the city of Lakeland.
We laud her foresight and determination and
strive to uphold the principles to which she dedicated her life.