In recording the History of Lake County, the name of William G. Long is entitled to a place of prominence. He succeeded his father-in-law in the office of Tax Collector of Lake County in 1890 and held this important office with credit to himself and the county for a period of thirty-three years. By a strange coincidence this is the exact length of time the office of Clerk of the Circuit Court was held by Mr. H. H. Duncan and the office of Tax Assessor by Mr. Robert L. Nutt.
Mr. Long was a native son of Florida, having been born in the town of Benton on August 17, 1865, the son of William H. and Caroline Long. His parents were both from North Carolina, but were very early settlers in this State, having come here before the Civil War.
In addition to his duties in connection with the office of Tax Collector, Mr. Long was actively interested in real estate and in orange growing. At the time of his death he owned considerable valuable property in Lake County.
He always took an active part in church work and served as Steward and Superintendent of the Sunday School in the Methodist Church of Tavares for a number of years. His fraternal affiliations were with the Masons, Shriners, Elks, and Knights of Pythias. He was married in Lake County in 1889 to Cora M. Cassady, to which union three children were born: Pearl, Essie (Mrs. Leonard Duncan of Tavares) and Thelma (Mrs. Marvin Miller of Havana, Florida).
No man in Lake County gave more freely of his time and effort for the public welfare than did Mr. Long. He was a splendid citizen, one highly honored and respected, and his death on June 5, 1923, caused widespread sorrow throughout the State/
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p257-258