David W. Mizell was born at "Alligator Settlement" (near Lake City). He moved to Orange County with his family in 1858. Mizell fought in the Third Seminole War and the Civil War, attaining the rank of first corporal before receiving a medical discharge in 1863 for cholera (or pneumonia). Appointed as the 8th sheriff of Orange County by Governor Harrison Reed on September 8, 1868. He was shot and killed after being ambushed on February 21, 1870 while on his way to arrest cattleman Moses E. Barber for refusing to pay a tax on cattle. He was the only Orange County Sheriff who died in the line of duty. He is buried in a small cemetery on the grounds of Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando.