William Thomas Cash

William Thomas Cash (1878–1951) was an educator, writer, Florida State Representative, Florida State Senator, and Florida's first state librarian. He is listed as a Great Floridian. A collection of his papers are held at the Florida State Archives. Some of his papers are also collected at Florida State University.

Early life and education Cash was born in Lamont, Florida in Jefferson County, Florida on July 23, 1878. Benjamin Franklin Cash and Susan Mixon Cash were his parents. His father died when Cash was thirteen. His mother remarried to John Henry Mathis in 1886, having three more children. Cash worked as a farmworker while he was a teenager to support himself since he did not live with his mother. He was taught in a Taylor County public school by Cary A. Hardee, who influenced him to become a teacher. When he was nineteen years old, he became certified to be a teacher.

Cash worked during the Great Depression and World War II, was an advocate for social spending, and was involved in the New Deal Rare Books Project. He died in Tallahassee, Florida on July 8, 1951.