The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Deputy Sheriff Love Cash, Avon Park Precinct No. 14, 1916

Statutory precinct appointment (May 1916)

Under Florida’s primary election statute of 1913, county commissioners were required, not less than thirty days before each primary election, to appoint three inspectors, an election clerk, and a deputy sheriff for every election precinct to preserve order, protect electors, and secure the ballot boxes.[lof-1913-6469] At their regular monthly session at the Arcadia courthouse on 3–4 May 1916, the DeSoto County Board of County Commissioners appointed precinct election officers across all thirty-five voting districts in the county ahead of the June 1916 primary election.[dsc-1916-05-11]

According to the official proceedings printed in The De Soto County News, the board appointed Love Cash as Deputy Sheriff for Avon Park Precinct No. 14.[dsc-1916-05-11] The board appointed long-time Avon Park residents George F. Kellogg, J. C. Skipper, and John Wilson as precinct inspectors and merchant M. T. Whidden as election clerk.[dsc-1916-05-11] County law enforcement operated under Sheriff John L. Dishong, who served as DeSoto County Sheriff from 1913 to 1917.[fl-secstate-1915-1916]

Prohibition enforcement and county court convictions (July 1916)

Cash’s duties extended beyond election-day polling supervision to regional statutory enforcement. In July 1916, Cash participated in liquor enforcement under Florida’s local-option prohibition laws, under which DeSoto County was voted dry. On a Saturday night, Deputy Sheriffs Thad Carlton and W. T. Garner traveled from the county seat at Arcadia to Avon Park and, aided by “Deputy Cash of Avon Park,” arrested Dan Maynor, Amos Purifoy, and Eugene Dukes on charges of selling intoxicating liquor.[dsc-1916-07-06]

The cases were prosecuted promptly in county court before County Judge W. D. Bell and Prosecuting Attorney Hugh G. Jones.[fl-secstate-1915-1916][dsc-1916-07-06] On the morning of Thursday, 6 July 1916, Purifoy and Dukes were tried and each sentenced to six months on the county road force; Maynor’s hearing was postponed to Friday at his request.[dsc-1916-07-06] The county paper commended the vigilance of Sheriff Dishong, his deputies, and the county prosecutor, noting that county officers had tried eleven illicit liquor-selling cases since 1 June with convictions in all eleven.[dsc-1916-07-06]

Biographical records and the nature of precinct deputization

Surviving federal, state, and local records preserve no family or landholding footprint for Love Cash in Avon Park. The 1910 and 1920 federal population schedules for Avon Park (Precinct 14) and DeSoto County contain no household headed by Love Cash or any family of that surname, nor does Cash appear in surviving 1917–1918 World War I draft registration cards for DeSoto County, Florida death indexes, or local cemetery rolls.

This documentary pattern corresponds to the administrative structure of rural law enforcement in Florida before the 1921 county division. Within the municipal corporate limits incorporated under the 1913 town charter, local ordinances were enforced by an elected town marshal such as L. M. Marsh. In the surrounding precinct, the county sheriff relied on precinct constables and special deputy appointments. County commissioners and the sheriff frequently commissioned able-bodied local men—often agricultural laborers, grove workers, or transient railroad employees—for specific election cycles or local enforcement details, resulting in brief official appearances that left no lasting trace in decennial census household returns.

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
single-source — One source. Treat as reported, not established.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. The De Soto County News, Arcadia, Fla., The De Soto County News, 11 May 1916, page 2: County Commissioners Proceedings (1916) · newspaper
  2. The De Soto County News, Arcadia, Fla., The De Soto County News, 6 July 1916, page 3: Liquor Cases in County Court (1916) · newspaper
  3. Legislature of the State of Florida, Chapter 6469 (No. 49), Laws of Florida 1913: An Act to Provide for and Regulate Primary Elections (1913) · official
  4. Florida Secretary of State, Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Florida, 1915–1916 (1917) · official

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