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Unitarian. The First Parish, organized in 1642, settled a Unita- 

 rian pastor in 1834, and has been a pronounced Unitarian Society 

 since that time. It occupies the House of Worship erected in 1828, 

 on Middle street, on the site of the venerable edifice built in 1738, 

 and chiefly memorable as having been the target on which the British 

 commander, Linzee, brought the guns of the sloop-of-war Falcon to 

 bear, on the 8th of August, 1775. The present pastor, Rev. Minot 

 G. Gage, was settled over the Society, January, 1870. 



Universalist I. The Independent Christian Society, (the oldest 

 Universalist Societj^ in the United States,) grew out of the labors of 

 the Rev. John Murray, who came to Gloucester in 1774, and re- 

 mained except during a short period while Chaplain of the Rhode 

 Island Brigade, in the struggle for National Independence, till 1793. 

 Its present House of Worship, the second erected by it, is situated 

 on Middle street, and was built in 1806. The present pastor, Rev. 

 Richard Eddy, was settled May, 1870. 



II. Rev. Ezra Leonard, settled over the Third Parish in 1804, 

 the Parish having been incorporated in 1728, became a Universal- 

 ist in 1811, and with the exception of a few members, his congrega- 

 tion followed him in his new views, and he continued to be their 

 pastor till his death, in 1832. The Meeting House is located in that 

 part of the city best known as Annisquam, and was erected in 1830, 

 the first edifice built by the Society on the same site, in 1728, being 

 then taken down on account of its age. The present pastor is Rev. 

 Henry C. Leonard, settled in 1876. 



III. In 1830 a majority of the Second Parish, incorporated in 

 1716, became Universalists, and continued to occupy the Meeting 

 House built about the time of the incorporation of the parish, till 

 1846, when the edifice was abandoned and demolished. The Soci- 

 ety have erected, in 1876, a Chapel at AVest Gloucester, near the 

 junction of the Essex and Coffin's Beach roads. Their present pas- 

 tor, settled in 1875, is Rev. Elmer F. Pember. 



IV. The Universalist Society at Lanesville, for many years a 

 portion of the Annisquam Society, created a separate organization 

 in 1876. Their present place of worship is Village Hall, and their 

 pastor, Rev. Byron G. Russell, was settled in 1875. 



Methodist. I. Organized in 1825, in the limits of the Fourth 

 Parish-, the Society built their first House of Worship on the corner 

 of Ta3^1or and Prospect streets, in 1828. In 1858 they purchased 

 their present church edifice on Elm street. The present pastor, 



