Robert McGill Loughridge

Robert McGill Loughridge (December 24, 1809 – July 8, 1900) was an American Presbyterian missionary who served among the Creek in Indian Territory. He attended Miami University, Ohio, and graduated in 1837. Loughridge was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in October 1842.

He entered Indian Territory in 1843, when he established the Koweta Mission in the Creek Nation. Seven years later, in 1850, he established the Tullahassee Mission, also in Creek territory.

Like most missionaries, he left the territory during the American Civil War, and preached in Texas for eighteen years. He returned in 1881 at the request of the foreign mission board and the Creek. During his ministry, he became skilled in the Creek language. With help from Legus Perryman, he translated and transcribed portions of the Bible into Muskogee (Creek), along with hymns and catechisms, assisted by Ann Eliza Robertson. In 1890, Loughridge published an English-Muskogee dictionary with David M. Hodge; it was the first of the Creek language and the only one for nearly a century.

Early life and education Robert Loughridge was born December 24, 1809, in Lawrenceville, South Carolina, to parents of Scots-Irish ancestry. They valued education and encouraged him to take every opportunity available. When Loughridge was fourteen years old, his family moved to St. Clair County, Alabama, where for seven years he and his brothers worked on the farm. They received formal schooling infrequently, as there were no public schools at the time.

At the age of twenty-one, Loughridge became the assistant teacher at Dr. Beebe's school in Mesopotamia, Alabama for several months. He professed his religious faith at twenty-two, and became a member of the Presbyterian church, under Rev. John H. Gray, D.D. Feeling divinely called to preach the gospel, he immediately started the study of Latin and Greek under his pastor. He later attended the Mesopotamia Academy in Eutaw, Alabama for four years, preparing for college. He entered in the sophomore class in Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. After three years, having taken all the required courses, he graduated in 1837 with a degree of Bachelor of Arts.

He soon entered the Princeton Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey. He stayed a year, returning home after his father died. He studied theology for two more years under his old pastor, Rev. J. H. Gray. Loughridge was licensed to preach by the presbytery council at Tuscaloosa, Alabama on April 9, 1841.

Loughridge had to wait about three weeks for the council to meet to consider his proposal. While there he visited several parts of the nation. No other missionaries were operating there. He found only one government school, run by a man who was later found out to be a counterfeiter. After the council met, they told Loughridge that they did not want preaching, because it broke up their old customs, their busks, ball-plays and dances; but they did want him to establish a school. He said that he was a preacher and would not help unless he could preach. After a long conference, the council agreed to let him preach at the school house, but nowhere else. Loughridge agreed to these terms; and returned to Alabama by horse to prepare for the move to Indian Territory. He returned by steamer up the Arkansas River with his wife Olivia; they reached the Verdigris landing, February 5, 1843.

Koweta Mission

After a few days of observation at his new home in Indian Territory, Loughridge bought a horse and saddle, and set out to find the most appropriate place for the mission; at the suggestion of the principal chief, it was located in the area of present-day Coweta.

As he described in a letter to the US Indian agent, Loughridge bought a vacant Indian cabin of 14x24 feet; it had a dirt floor and covered with clapboards. It was located on a small unfenced field and had a few fruit trees. He paid the owner ten dollars, and named it "Koweta". The Mission was situated near Coweta, one and one-half miles east of the Arkansas River, and twenty-four miles northwest of Fort Gibson. Soon he had built a larger cabin for school and church purposes. He invited the people to attend church, and to send their children to school; fifteen or twenty children were enrolled. His wife, an experienced teacher, began teaching classes. Initially few Creek attended Loughridge's preaching. They were devoted to their own culture and religion.

A large brick building, three stories high, was erected for the Tullahassee school. It contained separate dormitories for boys and girls. It was located on a ridge, in the Arkansas district, one and a-half miles north of the Arkansas River. Rev. H. Balentine was sent by the board to take over (with other missionaries) the Koweta Mission, while Loughridge was appointed as superintendent of the Tullahassee Mission. On March 1, 1850, the school opened.

In addition to the main building, there were out-buildings, stables, corn-cribs, fences, etc.; cattle, horses, wagons, and teams were all purchased; furniture for the building, and all kinds of supplies, books, papers, etc. had been provided. The school opened with thirty students, both boys and girls. The mission's full number of eighty was not reached until the fall. Loughridge and Robertson thought it better to start with fewer students, and give the teachers experience before more arrived. The school had a large bell that was donated by the mission board. It hung in the cupola of the building, and was used to mark a range of different activities at the school and the church. Dr. Wells from Fort Gibson donated a weather vane designed as an Indian standing with a bow and arrow.

A number of well-qualified teachers and assistants came from time to time, as Loughridge wanted the best staff for the school. The students' exercises were conducted on the manual labor plan, and six hours each day were spent studying. Loughridge preached the first sermon in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1883, standing on the front porch of a local store and in 1907 Loughridge founded and built the First Presbyterian Church of Coweta, which is now a museum and listed on the National Register of Historic Places list. He also translated books in the Creek language. The books prepared and published by Loughridge, with the assistance of his interpreter, were a hymn book, a catechism, translation of the Gospel of Matthew, a treatise on baptism, and a dictionary in two parts, Creek and English, and English and Creek.

Final years Toward the end of his life Loughridge was still loyal to his Christian beliefs. In 1881 during an autobiographical sketch of his life Loughridge wrote, "…during my long pilgrimage of nearly eighty-two years, many have been the afflictions I have been called to bear. Three of my six children have passed over the Jordan of death, and I am now living with my third wife, who is seventy-three years of age. But in all these bereavements, we are comforted with the assurance that all the dear ones thus taken away, are safely housed in their Heavenly home, where we shall meet again, and be forever with the Lord".