At 9:55 PM -0500 12/4/1998, Dennis Brubaker wrote: >I have found several marriages performed by ministers of the EVANGELICAL >UNITED BRETHERN. Is this the same as the Moravian Church or a branch? The >marriages were performed in West Virginia. Probably not. There are many religious groups with "brethren" in their name, most have German origins but aren't Moravian -- very confusing -- but I believe "The Unity of Brethren" is unique. It's possible they had a connection to the Moravians or modeled themselves on the Moravians (hard to say), who were successful in creating well-ordered communities in the wilderness. According to the Moravian directory of congregations, there was no Moravian church in West Virginia (as of 4/87.) Another interesting aspect of the Moravians was their missionary program. When the English Parliament granted them the freedom to form a community and practice their religion in NC, the goal was to perform missionary work with the local Indians. One of the conditions of the generous land grant was to minister to and doctor the English settlers who were sparsely scattered over the wilderness of Piedmont NC. Because the Anglican church had trouble persuading priests to leave the comforts of coastal Carolina, the Moravians were seen as a civilizing influence. So, it's possible many non-Moravian English settlers were married by Unity of Brethren ministers. John Speight<[email protected]> wrote: >No freedom of religion in the Virginia Colony either, except the >Anglican Church. Interesting, John! I'm glad you brought up Virginia. Many old Stokes Co families migrated from Tidewater Virginia after stopping a few generations in Southside Virginia (the VA counties bordering NC). It also reminds me of one of my favorite little books, Carl Bridenbaugh's "Myths & Realties; Societies of the Colonial South" (Atheneum, NY, 1965.) Bridenbaugh gives a good overview of the differences among the societies of Tidewater Virginia, Coastal Carolina, and Back Settlements (Stokes!) and talks a lot about the various religious groups. I highly recommend it! I apologize for the slightly off-topic historical discussion but I believe an historical context is very important in genealogical research. Without that context you can make some bad assumptions, for example, the term "plantation," which appears in many Stokes Co. wills and deeds, does not have the same connotation as it would in the rice culture of SC, nevermind the Hollywood notion of a plantation. In other words, when you read about your ancestors' Stokes County tobacco plantation, don't be thinking about Scarlet O'Hara and Tara Plantation <G> --- Mike Warren <http://www.netunlimited.net/~mwarren> Sine Nomine Farm, Tobaccoville, NC