SHERIFF S.C.M. THOMAS

In 1921, Former Ocala and Dunnellon Police Chief S. C. M. “Lum” Thomas was elected Sheriff. 

On Saturday May 29, 1926, Deputy Alan Osman Warren was working Traffic Patrol on the “South Dixie Highway” (US 441) near Belleview when his motorcycle was struck by a speeding car. He was taken to Marion General Hospital where he never regained consciousness.  Deputy Warren died on June 4, 1926. 

Sheriff S.C.M. Thomas arrested four people: Russell Wyteman, and W. S. Pursell of Dunnellon, Leonard B Walker of Haines City, and Miss Geneva Wilson. The vehicle, a Chrysler, was located in the possession of Leonard Walker. The vehicle had damage on the right front fender which was consistent with the impact of the motorcycle.

 Charges against the four were later dropped. No record exists today as to why the four were not prosecuted.

 Deputy Warren was survived by his wife Nellie Purchase Warren, a daughter, Louise - age 12 and a son, Clayton - age 5.

The infamous criminal “Ma” Barker and her son, Fred, were killed in the shoot-out in the town of Ocklawaha on Lake Weir. In late 1934, a house on the north side of Lake Weir was rented by Barker as a “winter hide out”.  Their actions drew no suspicions from the locals, and they kept their true identity from the locals. In fact, they blended so well that the citizens of the area thought they were just another family.The “family” members spent time and money in Ocklawaha and around the Lake Weir area.  They spent time fishing in the lake and hunting nearby.  The family was thought to be a friendly, quiet, likeable group. Their actions drew no suspicions from the locals as to their true identity. Unbeknownst to the towns people another couple of strangers were spending time in the area, they were undercover FBI agents who thought they tracked the gang to the lake. They were not sure until one morning Fred killed an alligator with a machine gun. Then in the early morning hours of January 16, 1935, the quiet was interrupted by a blazing gun battle.  The quiet, friendly family turned out to be the Barker-Karpis gang, wanted by the FBI for numerous bank robberies and kidnapping across the midwest, plus local murders.  Ma Barker and her son, Fred, were killed by the FBI agents during the gun battle. 

Neither the Sheriff nor any of his deputies were involved in the investigation or gun battle. Walter Perkins Jr. said that his father, Walter Perkins, “who was a deputy from 1919 to 1934” and the Sheriff were at the office in Ocala when someone came by and told them that there was a gun fight going on in Ocklawaha. They both drove down to the scene, where they were met by FBI agents and informed that their services were not needed. The deceased were taken to a local funeral home.

F. L. McGehee, the father of the former Ocala Chief of Police, and later to become a Marion County Sheriff, worked at a funeral home in Ocala at the time of the Barker shoot-out. He helped embalm the bodies of Ma and Fred Barker.

The bullet-riddled house still stands on the shore of Lake Weir. For many years during the 1980’s, the Lake Weir Chamber of Commerce staged a reenactment of the Barker shoot-out, using Marion County deputies to portray the FBI agents. In 2016 the property was sold by the original family who had owned it for over 85 years. The new owners donated the house to the county. The house was moved to Carney Island Park in 2017. Visitors to the home today can still view it in nearly the same condition as existed on the date of the famous shootout including bullet holes still lodged in walls and furnishings.

Also, in 1935, the Cross Florida Barge Canal was started. The canal was conceived in the 1920’s as a way to move cargo across Florida to escape the hurricanes which were so damaging to shipping in the open ocean. In September 1935, President Roosevelt announced funding of five million dollars to begin construction.

Shortly afterward, construction of the first work camp was started just south of Ocala. This was named Camp Roosevelt. The area and some of the buildings are still in existence today, now known as Roosevelt Village, just off Highway 441 south of Ocala.

Construction of the canal was halted shortly after its beginning. The people of Florida were divided on the canal, and the bill which would appropriate additional money was voted down in the United States Senate. Most of the work to that time had been done in Marion County, when all efforts stopped. Evidence of work in those years can still be seen. The concrete pilings in the divided portion of highway US 441 about halfway between Ocala and Belleview were to be the road overpass for the canal.

Excavations which were made for the canal between what is now Silver Springs Shores and Rolling Greens subdivisions are still visible today.  Also, still in existence are diggings west of Interstate 75 and north of County Road 484. Both areas are now part of the Florida Greenways trails and parks. 

The canal project was resurrected in 1964, but again stopped after millions of dollars had been spent. The latter work was done mainly to the north portions of the Ocklawaha River and in Putnam County to the St. Johns River. That work created the Rodman Dam, and the Rodman Reservoir, or what is now called Lake Ocklawaha.

The Eureka Locks were also built, but never operated. The project was finally cancelled by President Nixon after legitimate concerns were raised by environmentalists about the possible damage to Florida’s freshwater aquifer.  

In 1901 the Florida legislature had prohibited the leasing of prisoners to work in phosphate mines but let other prisoner work continue. In 1923, the state legislature passed a bill prohibiting all leasing of prisoners to individuals or businesses but created a convict labor pool to build and maintain roads. The County established The Maricamp “road” Prison to house sentenced misdemeanor prisoners to work on road and public works projects in the county. Maricamp was a modern self-sufficient prison which not only provided labor for public projects but also raised its own food. Maricamp covered many acres on both sides of what is now known as Southeast 17th Street/Maricamp Road. Some of the buildings are still in existence and are used by Marion County Fire/Rescue, and county engineering. Jervey Gant Park now sits on what was once part of the prison property. The Prison was administered by the County and was never under the administration of the Sheriff. The Maricamp prison closed in the 1960s. Sheriff Thomas served until 1937.

BUT HE CAME BACK 8 YEARS LATER AS SHERIFF…

Former Sheriff S. C. M. Thomas won the primary election in May and by December named six deputies who would work for him in his new administration. J. W. Rabb, a former newspaper man, and most recently a publicity representative for Silver Springs was named Chief Deputy. 

He took office in January 1945, but by June he had been indicted by a Grand Jury on four counts of protecting Illegal Gamblers. The indictment, returned to Judge Fred Hocker, stated that Sheriff Thomas had “knowingly, willfully and corruptly” Permitted Harry Carta to conduct a lottery for money and Gave him protection. Another charge was that the Sheriff had turned over evidence of illegal activity to Carta after searching Carta’s house on a search warrant issued by County Judge D.R. Smith. The grand jury also noted that Marion County had become “one of the worst counties in the state from a law enforcement standpoint because of the activities of past and present Sheriffs”. They also placed part of the blame on the public: “It has been common knowledge for many years that things were not as they should be and yet we have gone on voting for enforcement officials of the same stripe, accepting specious promises and sanctimonious subterfuges in lieu of record performances as criterion of qualification for office”.

The Sheriff naturally denied the charges and alleged that all the illegal activity mentioned in the indictment occurred under Sheriff Morehead’s administration. 

Morehead was already out of office and was not indicted or charged. Governor Millard Caldwell issued a severe reprimand to Sheriff Thomas but did not remove him from office. Then came the sensational charges from former deputy C. E. Simmons who, in a sworn affidavit, said that Thomas had ordered the destruction of evidence taken from Carta’s house, and that Sheriff Thomas himself had returned evidence to Carta. As for Carta, he and two other men were acquitted of all charges late in 1945. Thomas continued to tout his innocence and severely criticized the Ocala Star Banner for printing Simmons’ Statements. 

State Attorney J. W. Hunter and his assistant, A. P. (Pat) Buie began to act on the Grand jury indictment. He charged Sheriff Thomas with malpractice of his office. Thomas had to post a $5000 bond and was allowed to resume his office. The governor had remained curiously quiet about the situation, in fact nearly two months passed before Governor Caldwell eventually suspended Sheriff Thomas.

Edward J. Porter, Jr., a Live Oak native, was appointed to fill the unexpired term of the suspended Thomas. Sheriff Porter immediately hired his own deputies.  

Sheriff Thomas’ trial commenced in July, he was found guilty and sentenced to a year in the county jail by Judge Hocker. Thomas’ attorneys appealed the conviction, and it was eventually overturned by the Florida State Supreme Court in 1947. Sheriff Thomas was reinstated by the governor, but he immediately resigned the office and filed for his state pension. Sheriff Porter was once again reappointed.