1832 – Father Sanson K. Brunot held the first Episcopal services on the Island and the first organized church services in the young city of Key West.
1862 – Henry Hornbeck, stationed at Key West with the Pennsylvania 47th, wrote, “…went to Catholic church, it was a grand sight the church being decorated with Spruce and with Cocoanut leaves, and a great number of lights burning…The day here is celebrated like the 4th of July in the North, firing Squibs, etc.”
1875 – A Key West writer noted, “Christmas was a delightful day, and as the thermometer indicated from 70 to 78 degrees, the shade of the cocoanut trees did not come amiss. The bands, three in number (White, Cuban, and Colored) discoursed sweet music all the day and evening. That, with the constant banging of firecrackers and guns, gave the day more the appearance of Fourth of July than Christmas.”
1899 – The Christmas Sermon by Father Gilbert Higgs of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was delivered to a very large congregation.
1901 – While Christmas church services were being held, two men robbed the post office and the store of J.W. Johnson at the small community of Planter on Key Largo. The burglars fled to Miami via schooner but were later caught there with the money and arrested.
1952 – Key Wester and musician Edwar Weech surprised everyone at the V.F.W. Hall by playing a Christmas night saxophone solo. Weech had suffered serious injuries to both hands in the Korean War, and it was thought he would never be able to play music again.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Rev. Dr. Gilbert Higgs in 1895. From the Key West Art & Historical Society Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center