Florence Kaywood was the police matron with the Bloomington Police for 15 years. She was born in Bloomington in 1864 and married Harris Kaywood in 1885. Harris Kaywood died in 1896, leaving her with three small children in Michigan, where they had been living. While her children were still young, Florence returned to Bloomington. In 1915, her son was grown and living in Atchison, Kansas where she sometimes visited. Her daughter Edith was married in 1915 to Eugene Drake of Kappa after spending several years as a teacher in the county schools.
Florence lived at 203 W Oakland alone, despite the fact that she had two sisters living in Bloomington. Her sister Selena Stevens was a teacher for 50 years in Bloomington. Her other sister was Della Ames.
Florence's work as a police matron would not have been easy work. She was expected to look after the female prisoners. On October of 1919 she was watching over a woman, Jessie Schultz, who had been taken in for prostitution. During the night, Jessie Schultz attempted to hang herself, and Florence managed to stop her with the help of another officer. On another occasion the police matrons were required to shelter a young woman who had been living with a man "on the fashionable East side" and find her employment. The man, Ray Phillips, was under arrest for adultery, but the girl was thought to have been his victim.
An article in the 1909 Pantagraph described the duties and experiences of the police matron. The police matron was on call for any times when a woman was arrested. She would search the detainee, provide her with clothing if necessary. These women might be arrested for such charges as drunkedness, streetwalking, fighting, adultery or stealing. She also acted as a kind of nurse, binding up wounds from fighting and tending sick detainees. The police matron stayed with the female detainees all through the night, hearing the ravings of drunk or disturbed women brought low by poverty or drink. Two separate cells were kept for female detainees and a room that served as the matron's room, but also served as a storage room.
This photo of her appeared in the Pantagraph on the occasion of her 11th anniversary as police matron in 1923. She was 59 years old in this photo. She had lived through the death of one son at the age of 5, the death of her husband at age thirty-two and then spent 11 years working as a police officer. An article in the 1919 Pantagraph stated that the pay for the police matron was $3 a day. Whether this was a full time job or just an "as needed" post is not indicated, but other jobs with the police department had yearly salaries reported. This was a rise over the wage in 1911 (about the time Florence began working), which was $2.50. Interestingly, the assistant to the meter reader made just $2.00 a day in 1911.
Florence was mentioned more often for her activities with the Rebekah Lodge and sewing circles than she was for her work as a police matron.