Rev. Bunker Gay, born in Dedham, Mass., was educated at Harvard college, and was ordained a clergyman in the Congregational church. He came to Hinsdale in 1763, and was the first settled pastor of the Congregational church in the town. His church was located near the residence of Mr. Ivory S. Ide, and his parish embraced the whole town and Vernon, which was then included in Hinsdale. When Vermont became a state, and Vernon a sepa- rate town, that territory was taken from his parish, and left his church weak in members and property. He continued the nominal pastor during his life, and officiated at funerals and weddings, and preached until his old age compelled him to stop. He located on a farm where his grandson, Mr. Henry Hooker, a well-preserved old gentleman, aged ninety-three years, now lives. Here he continued to live till his death, in 1815, aged eighty years. He was the father of five children; all died young and unmarried except his daughter Abigail, who married Seth Hooker.
