One of the original settlers that traveled from Kent, Connecticut, and considered the "Patriarch of of the Settlers" of Sherburne, Deacon Nathaniel Gray came to Sherburne in 1791. That same year, Deacon Gray was appointed by those original settlers to return to New York City to secure a land sale of the Town of Sherburne. He ended up purchasing the land that is now the Town of Sherburne from Colonel William Stephens Smith. Deacon Gray was a veteran of the French and Indian Wars. He was appointed the first Justice of the peace of the Town of Sherburne in 1975 and was also appointed as the first Deacon of the First Congregational Church of Sherburne, in 1794.