"Christian Service in the Community"

              ___ CHRISTIAN SERVICE IN THE COMMUNITY
(Bradenton Twining School, January 19—24, 1941, with representatives in the class from Sarasota, Bradenton, Manatee, Palmetto, Parrish, Oneco).
General Statement on Manatee River Section.
HISTORICAL. The Manatee River section of Florida is a land of romance and of great historical interest. It is believed that Hernando de Soto, in 1539, sailed very near to the palm—fringed islands of Long Boat and Anna Maria. In 1803 James Grant Forbes navigated the waters of the Manatee River about 14 miles inland. In the fall of 1841 Josiah Gates left Fort Brooke, in Tampa, to inspect certain lands, with a view to settlement-. Ascending the Manatee River, Gates built a log house, containing six spacious rooms, and moved his family here in 1842.
After the failure of the Union Bank in Tallahassee, the wealthy Braden Brothers, Hector, a lawyer, and Joseph, a physician, came to the wilds of the Manatee, the latter erecting his first log house on a bluff overlooking the Manatee River. Later the Braden Brothers built the Braden Castle, the ruins of which may be seen today.
Major Robert Gamble came south from Tallahassee about the same time and acquired 3541 acres of land on the north 3ide of the Manatee River 1500 of which were under cultivation at one time. He had at one time the largest and most up-to-date sugar plantation in the United States, with perhaps 150 slaves. He began the construction of the famous Gamble Mansion in 1850, but during the depression of 1867 he sold the property and returned to Tallahassee.
It was in the Gamble Mansion that Judah F. Benjamin, Secretary of State of the Confederate Cabinet, a Jewish lawyer of Louisiana, sought refuge, after the fall of Richmond in I865. He remained at the Mansion for several weeks, barely escaping capture on one occasion by the Union soldiers, and later made his flight to Nassau in a sailing vessel, with the assistance of Captain Frederick Iresca, who received $1500.00 in gold for his services, although he could have claimed a reward of $40,000 offered for his capture by the United States Government. After being wrecked between Bimini and Nassau, Mr. Benjamin finally reached Nassau, where he took a steamer for England. He later rose to be one of the distinguished lawyers of the Mother Country and was appointed Queen’s Counsel.
It is claimed that the first religious service ever held in the Manatee
section was conducted in the large dining room of the log house of Josiah Gates in 1842. One of the colorful figures in the early history of Manatee was Rev. Edmund F. Lee, a Presbyterian minister, who made frequent trips to Tampa in a rowboat, following the shallow waters near the shore and poling all the way. He organized the First Presbyterian Church in Tampa in 1854, and is known as the "Father of Presbyterianism in South Florida."
RESOURCES. Manatee County has a wide variety of rich soils, and ranks fourth among the 67 counties of the state in vegetable production and 7th in the production of both vegetables and citrus fruits. Fruit and vegetable shipments from Manatee County's 385,000 fertile acres during the past ten years have totaled over 18,000,000 dollars. More than 4,000 acres were planted in tomatoes in 1940. The leading crops grown are celery, green pepper, cucumber, strawberries, potatoes, squash, cabbage, escarole, eggplant, corn, beans, romaine, endive.
There are 8663 acres of citrus trees in the county, with an annual shipment of 991 carloads of oranges and grapefruit.
Manatee County raises more than one-third of the gladioli raised in
Florida come from Manatee County, and cattle raising has become an important industry. Commercial fishing is an important industry, and there are several
important, fish-houses at Cortez, a village of 500, situated at the eastern end of Bradenton Beach bridge.
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MANATEE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY STYSTEM BRADENTON. FLORIDA