St. Paul's Church of the Brethren, Cana, Carroll County, Virginia

Written and submitted by William E. Harrold

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                   HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN

The Church of the Brethren was founded in 1706 in Germany, with doctrines
which combined Anabaptists and Pietism. The first permanent congregation in
America was in 1723 (although the early  migration of the group to America
started in 1717). The Brethren settled at Germantown, Pennsylvania (near
Philadelphia), and baptized their new converts in the nearby Wissahickon
Creek on Christmas Day, 1723. Martin Urner was the first Elder of the
denomination in America.

By 1755 the Brethren had migrated to Virginia, then to North Carolina, and
later were to spread out into Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania,
and eventually into other locations. In 1772 The Brethren Tune and Hymn Book
was published, being the first of their hymnals to contain musical notes
along with the verse texts.

The Brethren have had a long and interesting history in America, with many
accomplishments on both the spiritual and the social levels. In 1939, and
during W.W.II, they founded a Heifer for Relief Committee, shipping heifers
all around the world to relieve hunger.

St. Paul's Church of the Brethren is located is located off Highway # 52 in
Cana, Carroll County, Virginia. The members are also known as Dunkerds, and
The Order Brethren. The word Dunkerd comes from the German "tunken", which
means "to dip". They baptize adults face foreward three times, once for each
of the three names of the Trinity,

Their practices include Love feasts, Anointing, Foot Washing, The Laying on
of Hands, and Observing the Eucharist.

St. Paul's Church was founded by members of the Towe and Wisler Families in
Carroll County, Virginia. The Towes came from Edinburgh, Scotland, to
Davidson County, North Carolina, where Anderson Towe (b. 1800) and his wife
Priscilla Walser had four sons:

William Henry Towe (1837-1909), buried at St. Paul's.

John H. Towe (1839-1914), buried in Yukon City, Oklahoma

Albert Hamilton Towe, b. 1841

Francis W. Towe (who married Larthenia Payne) and became the father of
Albert
Sidney Towe, Prosperous Merchant in Mt. Airy, North Carolina (who married
Iris McMillian, daughter of Samuel Dudley McMillian and Sarah Ann McMillian;
and granddaughter of Captain James Lee and Sarah J. McMillian and of Joseph
McMillian, Sr. and Sarah Ann Haynes.

In 1889 William Wisler (son of Jake Wisler from Pennsylvania) built a log
cabin and a school, and named them both St. Paul's. They were built on 999
1/2 acres of land that once belonged to William Henry Towe, a Minister and a
Justice of the Peace.

                                   Written by William E. Harrold