W. K. Ashford Drops Dead in Business House Mr. William K. Ashford, aged 71 years, one of the city's best known citizens, dropped dead Monday afternoon about 4 o'clock while talking with some friends in the store of E. E. Brannon on N. Bradford Street. Heart failure was assigned as the cause, Mr. Ashford having suffered a severe heart attack some time ago. Mr. Ashford had made his home in Gainesville for the past forty years having come here from West Point, and had engaged first in the mercantile business, later in building, but had retired some time before his death on account of his health. He was a member of the Baptist church, and while quiet and unassuming, he ever upheld the right, and these qualities had endeared him to a wide circle of friends. The funeral was held at the home 17 Candler street, this morning at 10 o'clock, conducted by Rev. Ronald Q. Leavell, with interment in Alta Vista cemetery. Mr. Ashford is survived by his wife, who is a daughter of the late Governor Allen D. Candler; two daughters, Mrs. Tom Lumsden of Jacksonville, Fla., and Miss Karlene Ashford of this city; five sons, Messrs. Candler, Jamie and George Ashford of this city, and Howard and Dan Ashford of Jacksonville; four sisters, Mrs. Lottie Merck, Mrs. Ella Mae Daniels and Miss Eva Ashford of this city, Mrs. J. W. Markham of St. Petersburg, Fla. Transcribed from a clipping pasted in a Merck/Wing scrapbook; no dates visible. Information in parenthesis has been inserted for clarification. Ellipses (...) indicate that not all of the article has been transcribed. Some information omitted for clarify and brevity.