Served as pastor of the First Congregational Church in Nantucket, MA from October 1799 to June 1819.
| When Burke met | 1809 |
| Where Burke met | Nantucket, MA |
| Occupation | Clergy |
| Interaction with Burke | Burke visited him during a revival |
| Identity Status | Confirmed |
| Genealogy | WikiTree |
| Memoir Pages | 67 |
Notes
James Gurney (August 27, 1769 – June 18, 1839) was a clergyman who served as pastor of the First Congregational Church in Nantucket, MA from October 1799 to June 1819. He married his first wife, Ruth in 1794, and his second, Anna, in Nantucket in 1809, raising several children,. Around 1809, his abandonment of the “Half-way Covenant” in favor of stricter orthodoxy sparked Nantucket’s first religious revival. This theological shift led a small group to secede and form the Second Congregational Church, though Gurney maintained amicable relations with the new congregation. In 1818, he served on a Nantucket town committee exploring the establishment of free schools. Records conflict regarding his death place, citing both Nantucket and Freetown, Massachusetts.
Sources
Burke, William. Memoir of William Burke: A Soldier of the Revolution, Reformed from Intemperance, and for Many Years a Consistent and Devoted Christian; Carefully Prepared from a Journal Kept by Himself; to Which Is Added, an Extract from a Sermon Preached at His Funeral, by Rev. Nathaniel Miner. Hartford, CT: Case, Tiffany, 1837.