"In the presence of Almighty God and this Congregation, Gervas Bay and Anna Russell, inhabitants of the above said township enter into marriage Covenant lawfully to dwell together in the fear of God the remaining part of our lives, in order to perform all ye duties necessary betwixt husband and wife as witness our hands. Daniel Palmer, Gervas Say, Fras. Peabody, Anna Say. Saml. Whitney, Richard Estey, George Hayward, David Palmer, Edwd. Coye. Gervas Say was one of the signers of the church covenant as also were three of the witnesses, Richard Estey, Daniel Palmer, and Edward Coye, and it may be assumed that the marriage was regarded as perfectly proper under the circumstances and it is not improbable that, in the absence of a minister, this was the ordinary mode of marriage. Gervas Say was afterwards a magistrate of the county and a man of integrity, ability and influence. During the earlier years of the settlement at Maugerville there was no resident minister, but the place was occasionally visited by a clergyman. It is said that the first religious teacher there was a Mr. Wellman who came to Maugerville with some of the first settlers but did not remain. There is nothing to show that when the church covenant was signed, in the year 1765, there was any resident minister. The Reverend Thomas Wood of Annapolis, a Church of England clergyman, visited the River St. John in the Summer of 1769, and on Sunday, July 9th, landed at Maugerville, where he held service and had a congregation of more than two hundred persons. He stated in his report to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, that owing to the fact that the congregation was composed chiefly of Dissenters from New England, and that they had a Dissenting minister among them, only two persons were baptised by him, but, he added, "if a prudent missionary could be settled among them I believe all their prejudices would vanish." The next year the little settlement had a minister, Zephaniah Briggs, who remained from May to August, preaching on Sundays at the houses of Daniel Palmer, Jacob Barker, Hugh Quinton, Jonathan Smith and Elisha Nevers. After a while came a Mr. Webster who, like his predecessor, seems to have been an itinerant preacher and did not tarry long. It was not until the arrival of the Rev. Seth Noble[64], in 1774, that the church had a resident pastor, but in the intervals religious services were held on the Lord's Day at private houses, conducted by the deacons and elders of the church, consisting of prayer and exhortation, reading of a sermon and singing. Among the early deacons were Jonathan Burpee, Samuel Whitney, John Shaw, and Humphrey Pickard. The elders were chosen annually.