First Congregational Church and Society of Albany was organized by a band of : “thirteen earnest Congregationalists who had become merged into churches of other denominations in the city. These people, having been used to the larger freedom granted by the Congregational order, and attracted by the possibility of a new church for their faith in this city.” These 13 individuals met on December 15, 1849 at the home of James Burton on Grand Street “for the purpose of founding a new religious society whose form would appeal to those who believed in the simple tenets of faith.”  

These thirteen Congregationalists included Anthony Gould, Dr. James McNaughton, Bradford R. Wood, and Rufus H. King, all of whom were prominent citizens of the city.