The Reverend Phillips Payson was settled as pastor, October 26, 1757. He was a noted scholar and teacher, and was a man of much influence in his day. He was an active patriot during the Revolution, led his parishioners in person, and held a commission from the Massachusetts authorities. He preached the Election Sermon in 1778, and died in office, January 11, 1801. He was born in Walpole, January 18, 1730, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1754.
The Reverend Joseph Tuckerman, D.D., was ordained and settled over the parish November 4, 1801, and maintained this relation for just one quarter of a century, preaching his farewell sermon November 4, 1826. He was born in Boston, January 18, 1778; was graduated at Harvard College in 1798; died in Havana, April 20, 1840.
The First Baptist Church, the first religious society at Ferry Village, was organized in 1836.
The Unitarian Church was organized in 1838.
The First Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1839. The meeting-house they first occupied was on Park Street; it has been recently sold to the Grand Army of the Republic. The edifice they now occupy is on Walnut Street.
The St. Luke's Episcopal Church and the First Congregational Church were organized in 1841.
The First Universalist Church was organized in 1842.
The Central Congregational Church was organized in 1843, under the name of Winnisimmet.