1777The town voted for Reverend John Murray of the Independent Christian Church to leave town.People and Communities, Notable People, Religion
First Parish members threatened to do bodily harm to Reverend Murray if he did not leave town. In February, Murray was cited before the Committee on Public Safety and told to leave by March 6, and when he had not done so as of the Town Meeting on March 10, a vote passed to approve the Committee’s resolution. Murray refused to leave, and the matter was not brought up again.
Gloucester Town Records, 1753-1800, 1800. http://archive.org/details/townrecords17531800 Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Vol. II. Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co., 1888. http://archive.org/details/historyofessexco02hurd