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Cephas Washburn
1793 - 1860
The Rev. Cephas Washburn, pioneer missionary, educator, pastor, and
evangelist, founded Old Dwight Mission on the Illinois Bayou in 1820
as a
mission school to the Cherokee people of Arkansas Territory.
Washburn, a
direct descendant of a Mayflower pilgrim, came to
Arkansas Territory from
Vermont. Dwight Mission was the first
school established in Arkansas
Territory. By 1828, the mission
consisted of 48 buildings with 100
Cherokee students in attendance
taught by a missionary staff of seven teachers.
Washburn observed,
"There I first witnessed the power of the doctrines of the
cross. There
our first missionary church was organized; and there our
first converts
among the dear Cherokee people were brought into the visible fold
of
the Good Shepherd." Washburn retired from missionary work in 1840
to
serve as educator and pastor in Benton County, Arkansas. In 1850,
he
became the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith
and later
helped to organize new churches in Dardanelle and Galley
Rock. His last
years were spent as an evangelist for the Presbyterian
Synod of Arkansas from
his home in Old Norristown near present
day Russellville. While on a
journey by horseback to Helena to
conduct evangelistic meetings, he contracted
pneumonia and died at
the age of sixty-seven in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he
was buried
in Mount Holly Cemetery.
This marker for Cepha Washuburn and the Blue Star Highway marker
can be found
on the Old Post Road at:
N35.18.260 W093.10.085
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