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Venice-Nokomis United Methodist Church was
established in 1868 by Jesse
Knight, one
of the first settlers in this territory. His first homestead was
near
Tampa but during the war he moved south to the Upper Myakka
Lake area.
The cattle did exceptional well in Myakka but Jesse
didn’t want to live inland -
he preferred the coast. He finally
selected to reside in Horse
& Chaise. The
community got its peculiar name from a growth of
timber on a promontory
facing the open Gulf of Mexico. Two clumps of trees stood there
and seamen
coming up the coast swore that one clump looked
exactly like a horse and the
other exactly like a chaise.
The community of Horse & Chaise was later
renamed
Nokomis. Karl
H. Grismer describes
the Knight family’s arrival
in his book “The
Story of Sarasota”
as follows: |
“The Knights suffered a minor disaster
when they were almost in sight
of the
Gulf. They
came to a board creek, near the head of Dona Bay,
which they had
to ford. The mules
pulling the leading buggy refused
to budge. Knight tried to
coax
them to enter the water by holding ears
of corn in front of
their mouths.
But the stubborn animals would not be
tempted.
Whips were swung but still
the mules stood rooted in their
tracks. Finally Knight had an idea. He yelled
to his oldest son:
'Bill,
in that second cart there are some dried deer hides.
You
know, they
make a wicked, cracking noise when you handle them.
Get
one of
those hides
and stand just behind those critters and then take the
hide and
sort of shake it - and sort
of not shake it.'
Bill got the idea. He hurried back to the cart, pulled out a
large hide,
and stood
alongside
the team of balky mules. Then he shook the
hide - not rather
lightly,
as his father had suggested, but with all his
strength.
The shaking hide sounded
like exploding firecrackers.
Frightened, the mules leaped forward, splashing
through the
creek.
The result was near catastrophe. Two of the buggies and a
heavily
loaded cart upset in the creek and many
of Knight's belongings went
overboard. Because of this proof on
the super-efficiency of
shaken
deer hides,
the creek became known as Shakit Creek." |
Rev. Jesse Knight |
After succeeding in getting
the entire caravan
across the creek and providing shelter for his
family, Jesse gathered his wife and fifteen
children around him to read the scriptures,
thank God for their safe journey, and ask for
His guidance in the future. This event is
considered to be the first worship service
held in the area and established what later
became known as Venice-Nokomis United
Methodist Church.
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The Knights became one of the leading families on the West
Coast. Jesse, a staunch Methodist, became known throughout the
region as the Rev. Jesse Knight even though he was never
officially ordained. As more people settled in Nokomis the
Knight’s home became too small to hold the worship services.
Rev. Knight built an arbor on his property consisting of an open
frame and roofed with palm fronds to keep the sun out. This
arbor was used as the Church for about five years.
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The community continued to grow and the
need to provide an education for the
increasing number of children had to be addressed. In 1893 Rev.
Knight donated
land and supplied the lumber for a Schoolhouse to be
constructed. The lumber
came from the nearest sawmill, located at Cedar Key, and was
delivered by
sailboat. The Schoolhouse was small (18" x 24") and only
contained straight
benches. It also served as the Church. By 1903, the
Schoolhouse/Church had
outgrown the facility so Rev. Knight once again provided the
land and a separate
church building was construction. |
This Church had stained glass windows, a
belfry, and a cast iron bell. Our Church
obtained
the bell in the late 1800's. Its original use was on an
old "iron horse,"
coal
and wood-burning
locomotive. Its sound became the familiar call to worship
for those
who resided in the area.
When Rev. Knight died at the age of 94, the
bell was tolled
94
times in his honor.
This first Church was built on a piece of property that today is
recognized as
an
historical landmark for being the area’s first
cemetery. The Knight Memorial
Cemetery is located on Colonial
Lane in Nokomis, Florida. The cemetery is
about 300 feet north
of the Knight’s first home. The name was changed from
“The
Nokomis Cemetery” to “The Knight Memorial Cemetery” in honor of
the
founder of our Church.
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First Church Building 1903 |
Notice the word “Venice” written
across the photograph of the first Church.
Venice was
later moved south of Roberts Bay and Nokomis named for the
area
north of Roberts Bay.
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On September 18, 1926 the Florida West Coast was hit by a severe
hurricane.
One of the casualties of that storm was our Church - it was
completely destroyed.
The organ and beautiful pews were damaged beyond repair and the
books
water-soaked beyond redemption. The cast iron bell from our 1903
Church
crashed to the ground as our Church building collapsed. After
the hurricane,
the bell was loaned to serve another Methodist Church in the
area. The hurricane
was a tragedy that left the community in shock.
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