Gideon Blackburn

Gideon Blackburn (August 27, 1772 – August 23, 1838) was an American Presbyterian minister, missionary, educator, and academic administrator. He raised funds for new colleges and founded numerous congregations and churches in areas of new western settlement in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Early life and education Gideon Blackburn was born in Augusta County, Virginia, on August 27, 1772.

Became orphan at age 11 The Native American nations wanted to control the movement of whiskey and other liquor.

Moving to Middle Tennessee, a flourishing and fertile area being rapidly settled by migrants, Blackburn served as an itinerant preacher in Franklin, Tennessee, where he headed Harpeth Academy in 1811-13. He founded five congregations in the area, including First Presbyterian Church of Nashville, Tennessee and in 1818 the first Presbyterian church in the Alabama Territory, at Huntsville.

Kentucky and Indiana, 1823–1837 He then moved his family to Louisville, Kentucky, where he was pastor of the First Church of Louisville (1823–27). He was elected president of the young Centre College on August 1, 1827, He resigned in 1830.