Bart Dell Broxson

Term of Office, 1957 - 1959

Bart Dell Broxson, a lay minister and the “Bible carrying” sheriff, was born November 22, 1902. He was the son of John and Sarah Lowery Broxson on Garnier’s Bayou in what is now Okaloosa County.  He was reared in Holley, met and married Annie Rachel Gordon in 1923, and set up a homestead in 1925 near Gulf Breeze in the area that is now Santa Rosa Shores. Together, the Broxsons raised eleven children. When the 1926 hurricane flooded their homestead, the Broxsons moved back to Holley.  In March 1941, the family relocated to the Gulf Breeze area and became an integral part of the new community. Broxson engaged in work as a truck farmer, cattleman, and federal employee.

Broxson’s interest in politics led him to seek and to win election as a county commissioner in the 1930’s. In 1955, Broxson, entered the race for sheriff of Santa Rosa County and won the election. He became a success in the political arena believing that “the best way to rid yourself of an enemy is to make a friend out of him.” Broxson went to great lengths to help other families who were down on their luck. He fed and housed many itinerant families during his tenure as sheriff.

Broxson’s term as sheriff was cut short due to an automobile accident that claimed his life on December 24, 1959. The accident occurred just south of the East River Bridge in Holley, less than a mile from his boyhood home. Broxson is buried at Rose Lawn Cemetery, just east of Gulf Breeze.