Did your ancestors farm in early Boynton? If you have old photos of early families like Cade, King, or others, please contact us. These stories should be documented, and shared with future generations.
Long before the formal establishment of the Town of Boynton, the area that would become Boynton Beach was a frontier landscape of palmetto scrub, tall grasses, and untamed farmland. Among its earliest settlers were two African-American families whose contributions helped lay the foundation for the community: the families of Samuel B. Cade and Alonzo L. “L.A.” King.
Farmers, Landowners, and Community Builders
Samuel B. Cade and Alonzo L. King were working farmers who transformed raw land into productive agricultural fields. Through determination and labor, they established homesteads, raised families, and contributed to the region’s early economy.
Alonzo King became a landowner of particular note. Historical records indicate his involvement in the development of the Pence/King Addition, a tract created for farming and settlement in partnership with local fruit shipper Cullen Pence. King’s name appears in county commission proceedings during the early twentieth century, reflecting a level of civic participation not always recognized in accounts of early Boynton history.
Samuel Cade lived and farmed nearby, building his household alongside other early settlers. Together, the Cade and King families formed part of a small but significant African-American farming community in the area.
Before the Town Was Platted
In 1898, Fred Dewey and Byrd Spilman Dewey officially platted the Town of Boynton. However, evidence suggests that Samuel Cade was already living and farming in the vicinity by the mid-1890s, and Alonzo King and his family were also established in the developing settlement.
The birth of King’s son William in Boynton in 1884 — prior to the town’s formal platting — underscores the presence of African-American settlers before the arrival of many later residents whose names are more commonly recorded. Their story broadens our understanding of who the true pioneers of Boynton were.
A Regional Story
Both men brought with them experiences shaped by the post–Civil War South. Samuel B. Cade, born in Georgia in 1852, came of age during Reconstruction. Alonzo L. King, born in 1862 in Virginia, later migrated southward to Florida as part of broader patterns of African-American movement in search of land and opportunity.
Census records from 1910 list both men as heads of household in Boynton, identified as farmers and neighbors. Their families were part of a tight-knit agricultural community that contributed materially and socially to the area’s growth.
Later Years and Legacy
In the 1910s, Alonzo King relocated to Jacksonville, where he worked as a mason, carpenter, and laborer until his death in 1918. Samuel Cade remained in Palm Beach County, continuing to farm and raise his family until his death in 1924…