March 30, 1973 Shellie E. Cash, Sr. became the first African American man in Appling County to become a deputy. Sheriff Red Carter swore him in. Sheriff Carter told Cash he wanted to deputize him because he wanted to make a change. Cash displayed the gold deputy badge with his name engraved on it, the very badge he wore proudly for many years while serving and protecting others.

He worked for the Baxley Police Department for almost 22 years and for the Appling County Sheriff’s Office whenever they needed him. As he looked back on his career in law enforcement Cash talked about how he is so very thankful to God that he was not injured or killed or never had to kill someone. He is proud of the fact that cases in Baxley are solved unlike in other towns where the cases never get solved. He explained why cases don’t get solved and stated, “Somebody knows something, but they are just too scared to talk.”

When this reporter asked Cash if he had ever seen anyone who had died, he replied, “Oh, many times.”

He began to tell about the time he was the first officer to arrive at a real bad motorcycle accident. When he got to the scene of the accident a vehicle had hit the motorcyclist and he was already dead. He remembers that the scene was awful. Cash immediately radioed for help.

Another time one of their very own was killed, Deputy Woodrow Simmons. Simmons was killed on Nails Ferry Road when he was helping direct traffic after a truck had wrecked and turned over. The truck was full of peanuts and they were all over the road and everywhere. Someone driving a car came along and was not paying attention and ran over him and killed him.

He spoke about many instances where someone had died like discovering a suicide victim and when he would witness autopsies. Seeing a dead person did not really bother him that much he said, but that changed over the years as he got older and it was at times harder to deal with.

When asked if he would do it all over again to choose to work in law enforcement, in which there is not much more of a noble career choice than of serving and protecting others, he said he would certainly do it again. He does not have any regrets and looks back with gratefulness at his career in law enforcement.

He was born in Appling County and lived in Surrency for most of his life. His parents were the late Blanch Dunham Dixon and Ike Cash. His father worked in turpentine, was a farmer and woodsman. He has one brother, one half-brother and five half sisters.

When asked what it was like growing up in Appling County he replied, “We worked.” When he was a child he worked on farms and in the fields. “We only went to town twice a year once in the summer and once at Christmas.” He would look forward to it so much because they would get a drink and a pack of crackers and they loved to stand around and watch people.

In his younger days he and his family looked forward to listening to the radio. They would listen to the Grand Old Opry, Ernest Tubb and other artists that were popular back then.

He attended Selma School on Old Surrency Road in Appling County and McTier School in the McTier Community in his later school years. They had to walk approximately two miles to school. He had to run to keep up with his sister who was older and could run much faster than Shellie. “She ran really fast!” he exclaimed. “She didn’t want to be late for school so that is why she would run. I had to try my best to keep up,” he said.

The person he most admires is Charlie Beach. He admires Beach the most because he is a man that is always true to his word and always treated him with respect.

The biggest challenge he has ever had to face was the death of his first wife and when he lost his home to a fire in November of 1963. The fire destroyed their home and they lost everything. The neighbors and citizens of Appling County reached out to them in a way that he still remembers and it still brings tears to his eyes. “I love the people of Appling County, the people have always been very gracious and giving, it so great to live in a community that will help others who are going through something terrible or who have unexpectantly found themselves in need. You can’t find no better people than in Appling County,” he said proudly.

They lived with his grandpa while they rebuilt their house. With the help from neighbors and friends they had the foundation cleared rather quickly and rebuilt the house and was moved in by Jan. 6. His wife died 40 days after moving in. His wife was recovering from surgery and seemed to be doing fine and was talking and the next minute she couldn’t talk and collapsed and died. They found out afterwards that she had died from a blood clot. They had one daughter at the time.

Losing his wife was extremely hard to get through, but with God’s help he was able to get through this tragedy.

Later on he married Lora Estelle Crosby and they have been married for 46 years. Lora had one child when they got married. She has always loved and treated his daughter like her own and often times even better than her own.

Cash says he always tries to treat others right and believes that when you treat people right then good will always come out of it when you do.

His pet peeve is when someone curses real bad. “When someone curses and uses those real bad words around me - it just goes all over me and it grinds in my heart,” he said. Cursing is something that he wishes people would not do.

“The younger generation has got me puzzled,” as Cash said with a puzzled look on his face and shaking his head. “The difference in young people of today than when I was growing up is that they don’t care about anybody else, but themselves, and think everything is owed to them, and they will not think anything of it of just taking what ever they want.”

His advice to young people is to remember the 10 Commandments and to always honor thy mother and father so that thy days shall be long upon the earth.

He is a member of Rachel Baptist and has been a deacon for over 40 years. Shellie E. Cash, Sr. is 80 years old. Because of health problems he attends church when he is able. He has had several hip replacements and is in need of another one. He uses crutches to get around. He has diabetes, heart problems and COPD. His wife is in poor health and has had several strokes and has cancer. He blames part of the problem of having bad hips on a bad fall that he had when he was a kid. When he was a kid he went to bend the top of a tree to make a catapult so he could fly up in the air, when the tree all of a sudden snapped into and caused him to have a bad fall. He was not sure if he broke something or not. “We didn’t go to the doctor back then. You just put up with the pain until you got better,” he said.

When this reporter asked what do you think about all the earthquakes that have been happening? He replied, “It’s in the Bible. The Bible predicts that earthquakes are going to happen and this is just part of prophecy being fulfilled. There is going to be an earthquake here in the United States and one day we are going to wake up one morning and find out that California has disappeared into the ocean. We should be worried and be ready for the Lord,” he said with a serious tone.

While talking about all the new high tech gadgets that everyone is using today, he confessed he is not up to date on all the gadgets and has never seen Facebook, but has seen his grandchildren playing those high tech games. He said it made him nervous watching them play it and it became too much for him and he had to leave the room.

When he was a boy he enjoyed playing baseball and when he was a little bit older he use to play the guitar some.

Cash loves to fish and he stated that he is not picky when it comes to what kind of fish to fish for and likes to catch anything that will bight.

When he his health was good he loved to go deer hunting. One of his favorite hobbies is collecting and shooting guns. On many occasions he has shot and killed rattlesnakes and moccasins and told about a time he once shot a snake while it was swimming on the water. He has surprised people who have had the experience of seeing his excellent marksmanship.

They have nine children, 19 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.