John J. Verigin was born in Orlovka, Georgia on December 6, 1921. He lost his father prior to his birth and was separated from his mother, Anna Petrovna Markova, at age six. Brought to Canada in 1928 by his grandfather, Peter P. Verigin, John Verigin acted as his assistant until his death, after which time he was proclaimed Secretary of the USCC at 18 years of age. He served as the Honorary Chairman of the USCC from 1960 to 2008, in effect becoming the longest serving leader in the Doukhobor history. During his 70 years of service, John J. Verigin received many honours (which he proudly accepted in the name of the people he served), including the Freeman of the City of Grand Forks, the Order of British Columbia, the Order of Canada, and the Soviet Order of Peoples' Friendship. He died on October 26, 2008 and was laid to rest near his mother.

Peter P. Verigin, Peter Lordly's son, was born January 2, 1881, also in Slavyanka (like his father), in the province of Elizavetpol. He succeeded his father in leading the CCUB Doukhobors in Canada from 1927 until the collapse of the community in 1938. Despite ill health in his later years, he restructured the CCUB into current organization - the USCC. Peter P. Verigin known as "Chistyakov" (the "Cleanser" or the "Purger") died in Saskatoon, Sask. on February 11, 1939, and was buried beside the remains of his father.

Peter Vasilevich Verigin, known as Peter “the Lordly” Verigin, was born in 1859 in Azerbaijan, where Russian Tsar exiled his family together with other the Doukhobor community members. His maternal grandfather was a spiritual leader of the Doukhobors, but the leadership passed to another branch of the family. After the death of Verigin’s cousin Peter Kalmykov, his wife Luker’ia Kalmykova became the leader of the Doukhobors. Luker’ia chose Verigin to become her assistant and groomed him to become the next leader, but she also forced him to divorce his pregnant wife Evodokia Kotel’nikova. After Luker’ia death, Verigin’s leadership was faced with the opposition from some community members resulting in him being exile to Siberia in 1887. Returning from his exile, Verigin organized his community emigration to Canada in 1899, settlement in Saskatchewan and later in the Kootenay Region of British Columbia. Doukhobor community was to be officially known as Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood (CCUB). Verigin’s leadership motto was “Toil and peaceful life”, but his leadership and prosperity of the community in Canada was challenged by the Canadian government regulations that were in inconsistent with community beliefs, such as military service or education. In addition, these problems led to the disapproval of Verigin’s leadership by some Doukhobor community members as well as by the Sons of Freedom group. In 1924, Verigin died due to a bomb explosion on the train he was travelling on.