It ended with a photo, one that, until last week, was not known to exist. It began with a shooting of a 29-year-old man in a place called SUMICA, Lake Wales. And in between, a mystery was solved for a grandson; a hero that’s been gone for over 100 years will finally be honored in the way he has always deserved to be.
It started on a Thursday afternoon in early September. A friend of mine was visiting and the conversation turned to a familiar topic; ancestry is a fascinating subject, and one that can lead you down roads you never expected. Gerald Dempsey, of Lakeland, shared that he had been doing some research with regard to a man named O. T. Smith. With a surname as common as Smith, it was impressive that he had been able to locate a copy of the man’s death certificate, his World War I draft card, and a photo of his gravestone.
Mr. Smith, indeed. As it turns out, he had been a Polk County Deputy Sheriff in the Lake Wales area. Dempsey had been researching the man’s history in an attempt to assist the Polk County Sheriff’s Office with obtaining a photo of the slain deputy, who died in 1922. We’ll get to that part of the story in a moment.
Dempsey himself is a retired captain from the Lake Alfred Police Department. Dempsey’s nephew, Ian Floyd, is the current Chief of Law Enforcement for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Floyd has been working on updating the PCSO Fallen Heroes Memorial, which is located in the courtyard of the Sheriff’s Operation Center, 1891 Jim Keene Blvd. in Winter Haven.
The memorial lists the names and significant dates of deputies throughout the history of the Sheriff’s Office that have been killed in the line of duty. PCSO has been in the process of producing bronze statues in the likeness of each deputy being honored. Deputy Smith is among the last to have gone without a photo.
In July 2024, the most recent bronze statue was revealed in a ceremony to honor Deputy Blaine Lane. A post on the PCSO Facebook page, dated July 19, 2024, well-explains what the memorial represents:
“Deputy Lane was killed on October 4, 2022 in Polk City, while he and other deputies were executing an arrest warrant. He was only 21-years old.
“The statue of Deputy Lane joined the statues of other PCSO fallen heroes: Deputy Matt Williams & K9 DiOGi, Sgt. Ronnie Brown, Deputy T.A. Burnham, and Detective Waymon Allen.
“A plaque with Deputy Lane’s name and his End of Watch date was added to the memorial, joining fifteen other PCSO fallen heroes.
“The memorial, statues, and plaques are all funded by Polk Sheriff’s Charities, Inc. (a 501c3 not-for-profit organization), which was started back in 2006 following the murder of Williams and DiOGi, as a way to provide monetary support for PCSO members who face significant and unexpected tragic events. In addition to this goal, and the funding of the memorial, the charity also supports needs of the community.”
This brings us back to Deputy Smith.
Dempsey had spent significant time researching Deputy Smith, but was unable to uncover an image. He shared with me what he had found and asked for assistance. Having spent some time on my own family tree and searching genealogical information with other family members, I wanted to try and assist.
Most leads were a dead end. Searching through several types of archives, genealogical websites, gravestone information, and old newspaper articles, I finally got a break when an obituary from a funeral home was located. Smith’s son died in 1972, and the obituary listed the names of several relatives.
This is where the phone calls began. Since most people have cell phones, and very few maintain landlines, phone numbers can be very difficult to obtain and verify. After searching social media and leaving many voicemails, I found a contact phone number for a man named Curtis Smith, living in Inverness, Florida.
If I was right, Curtis was the grandson of O.T. Smith. A couple of days after I started my search, I left Curtis a voicemail and hoped for the best.
I was sitting in a restaurant at the Mall of Millennia in Orlando when my phone rang; the number that displayed surprised me. After speaking with Curtis for a few minutes, we determined that he was indeed the grandson of Olin Thomas Smith. A man in his 70s, he was quite surprised to hear from the publisher of Lake Wales Daily who was looking for a photo of his grandfather.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have one.
He knew little of Smith’s history; his father was just a little boy when Smith was killed in 1922. He did have a newspaper clipping from the Lake Wales Highlander newspaper, dated January 18, 1922, which explained the circumstances around his death:
After a brief conversation, we learned he did not have a photo of his grandfather. Curtis wanted the opportunity to contact his surviving siblings to see if anyone might have a copy. As he had never seen a photo of Smith before, we were not optimistic.
When my phone rang again, a short time later, we would all be shocked. His brother, who resides in North Carolina, did indeed have a photo and immediately would make arrangements to have it sent to Florida. It was in a picture frame, in black-and-white, and in excellent condition. This is the first look that anyone in the state of Florida has had of Deputy Smith in this photo in about 100 years:
As a result of general research, it is likely that this picture was taken within a couple of years or less of Deputy Smith‘s death. It is not known for certain, but it is likely that his attire was typical of a person in law enforcement at the time. Uniforms for members of law enforcement were not yet common.
It is possible that this photograph was taken at SUMICA, an area off S.R. 60 approximately 10 miles east of Lake Wales. The property is located just north of Indian Lakes Estates. The parking area is three quarters of a mile southeast of Tiger Lake Road or one quarter mile northwest of Sam Keene Road on the southwest side of S.R. 60. According to the South Florida Water Management District, SUMICA, once slated for watermelon farming, is the site of a former logging community and sawmill.
When informed of the recovery of the photograph, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd expressed his gratitude in having the ability to honor the life and work of Deputy Smith.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled that this photograph of Deputy Smith was located. Honestly, we had given up hope of ever recovering artifacts or pictures from the 1920s and earlier. I am so thankful that Deputy Smith’s history of service is becoming more real because of the hard work of these two amazing history buffs, Gerald Dempsey and Maria Iannucci. Having this photograph means that the artist who will create the full-sized bronze sculpture for our memorial won’t have to guess what he looked like. He will know.”
Ian Floyd, PCSO Law Enforcement Department Chief, is especially happy to have recovered a significant piece of history for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, particularly since his uncle played a big role.
“As a history buff myself, I’m so happy to have these artifacts, photos, and documents connecting us to an event of such historical significance to Polk County and the Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Smith was shot and killed protecting the people he served. To be able to have tangible documentation of his service and his life is priceless. I’m amazed by my Uncle Jerry’s ability to search through ancestry records to find things others couldn’t. And Maria went the extra mile to locate and contact relatives that led to Deputy Smith’s photo. I can’t wait to see the bronze sculpture in its rightful place on the memorial plaza in front of our building.”
Mike Potthast, of Potthast Studios in Winter Haven, has offered to digitize the photo to preserve it for future generations and to get the best resolution of detail in the photo for the design of the bronze cast.
Dempsey, a veteran and former member of law enforcement, wanted nothing more than to honor the slain deputy.
“We gave our word that we would find you and we never gave up this promise until we did.”
In all, a handful of documents were recovered. Before the common use of an official identification, first and middle names were often interchanged. Smith was known as Olin, Oliver, and Thomas. Research shows his legal name was likely Olin Thomas Smith.
Smith is buried at the Gandy Cemetery near Bartow. He and his wife are buried side-by-side; she passed away in the 1950s. Over the years, his gravestone has broken from its base and required cleaning. Floyd tells us that a team from PCSO has been out to clean the stone, and will take care of restoring it to original condition, as well as adding an additional marker at the gravesite denoting his service and sacrifice to the people of Polk County.
Curtis Smith, the grandson of Deputy Smith, is planning a trip to Polk County to visit his grandfather’s grave. He has two surviving siblings, and other generations of family members who hope to come to the unveiling of the bronze statute when it’s ready.
“We knew our grandfather was a Sheriff, but he died very young and we didn’t hear much about it from our family. Our entire family is grateful for all who took on this project. I can only imagine the satisfaction your team must feel when the missing puzzle pieces start surfacing. Thank you for not giving up; the family appreciates your efforts to honor our grandfather.”
Now that a photo has been located, the Sheriff’s Office will commission a bronze statue for Smith, using the photograph as a reference. The statues at the memorial are cast at the full height of the subject. As the photo that was recovered was a full length picture, the statue will likely resemble that image.
When the statue is ready in about a year, the family will be invited for its installation. I hope to be there as well, to meet the family, and of course, to take a few photos.
#AHeroRememberedNeverDies
