Missionary to the Cherokees, Cephas Washburn

Cephas Washburn (1793-1860) was the great-great-grandson of James Washburn (1672-1749) of Bridgewater, MA. James’ father John (1620-1686) emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony from Bengeworth, England, while James’ mother, Elizabeth Mitchell Washburn (1629-1684), was the daughter of Jane Cooke Mitchell (1605-1666), who in turn was the daughter of Mayflower passenger Francis Cooke (1583-1663). (Francis’ wife Hester, b. 1585, came a little later on another boat).

All this is to say: since James Washburn is my 6th-great-grandfather, Cephas Washburn would be my fourth cousin four times removed (if I’m figuring correctly). “I discovered Cephas from my other Washburn research. He was a noted missionary to the Cherokees. Here is a biography of him by Dianna Everett at the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma Culture and History: “I discovered Cephas from my other Washburn research. He was a noted missionary to the Cherokees. Here is a biography of him by Dianna Everett at the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma Culture and History:

“A missionary to the Cherokee people, Cephas Washburn was born to Josiah W. and Phebe Cushman Washburn in Randolph, Vermont, on July 25, 1793. After graduating from the University of Vermont, he was ordained a Congregational minister in January 1818 and afterward preached in Vermont. On October 6, 1818, he married his cousin Abigail Woodward. From October 1818 to autumn 1819 he served as a missionary in Georgia. These years encompassed the Second Great Awakening, an important period of religious revivalism and evangelism in America. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions sent Washburn to the Arkansas Cherokees. In July 1820 he preached the first sermon ever given in Little Rock, Arkansas. In company with his brother-in-law, Rev. Alfred Finney, an 1815 graduate of Dartmouth University and an ordained Congregationalist minister as well, he moved into the Cherokee country to establish Dwight Mission near present Russellville.

“When the Cherokee Nation was relocated westward to present Oklahoma in 1828, Dwight Mission moved to a new site near present Marble City, in Sequoyah County. There the Washburns remained until he resigned his position in 1850. He concluded his career as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas, retiring in 1855. He died on March 17, 1860, and is buried in Little Rock. Washburn’s memoirs, Reminiscences of the Indians, posthumously published in 1869 and reprinted several times in the twentieth century, record his observations of the lifestyles and culture of Cherokees west of the Mississippi.”

Source: https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=WA032

Samuel R. Brown’s Books

Something cool to me. Samuel R. Brown (1775-1817) published ‘The Western Gazetteer’ (1817) which contained the first mention in print of my hometown area. He wrote that the settlers of the area expected the Illinois capital to be located there soon–which it was. Two years earlier, Brown published a history of the War of 1812—and the first of my ancestors to settle my hometown area (in 1829) was a veteran of that war. Just a fun little connection. http://famousamericans.net/samuelrbrown/

Benjamin Church and the King Philip’s War

Benjamin Church was a key figure in the English side of the brutal King Philip’s War of 1675-1676. Some of my Massachusetts 7th-great-uncles participated in the war. It was a tragedy for both the English and the Native American tribes, and especially for the Natives, since the war set in motion future wars against them as the coast-to-coast settlement of America continued.

1840 Whig Candidates

My hometown’s newspaper, the Vandalia Whig, carried this list of candidates in 1840, with my 4-great-grandfather running for reelection as county coroner, and “Abram Lincoln” as an elector for William Henry Harrison. 

Here are Thomas and Margaret Gatewood’s graves in the Winslow Pilcher Family Cemetery near Brownstown, IL. (See my Gatewood post.)

The Colburns and King Philip’s War

This posts connects to another: https://paulstroble.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/my-family-the-carsons-and-colburns/

My 8th-great-grandfather Edward Colburn was born January 30, 1618, probably in England. Coming to America in 1635, he was the first settler of what became Dracut, Massachusetts, which I hope to visit sometime. As this 1913 caption says, his house was a garrison during the 1670s Indian Wars, in which one of his sons was killed. Four and five generations later, his family were among the first settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois. This is the family of my dad’s maternal grandma, whom he remembered lovingly.

Here are some sites about him:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37498614/edward-colburn
http://ancestorbios.blogspot.com/2012/03/garrison-house-in-wilderness-edward.html
https://www.geni.com/people/Corporal-Edward-Colburn-Sr/6000000002275820991
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Colburn-703
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/217627?availability=Family%20History%20Library

Me, b. 1957

My parents:
Paul Stroble 1912-1999
m. Mildred Crawford 1919-2012

Paul’s parents:
Andrew Stroble 1882-1935
Janie Carson 1890-1991

Janie’s parents:
Mac Carson, 1855-1924
Mary Alice Colburn, 1866-1951

Mary Alice’s parents:
John T. Colburn 1840-1918
Martha J. Beck 1845-1926

John’s parents:
William Colburn 1793-1869
Achsa Phelps, born 1796

William’s parents:
Paul Colburn, c. 1761-1825
Mehetibel Ball (b. about 1757)

Paul’s parents:
William Colburn 1726-1776
Abigail Wheeler

William’s parents:
William Colburn 1689-1769
Margaret French 1687-1774

William’s parents:
Robert Colburn 1646-1701
Mary Bishop Hoar, b. 1651

Robert’s parents:
Corp. Edward Colburn 1618-1700
Hannah 1620-1712

One of Edward’s sons, also named Edward, was killed during King Philip’s War between the English and Native American tribes. A group of English colonists commanded by Thomas Wheeler and Captain Edward Hutchinson were trapped and attacked by Nipmuc Indians under the leadership of Muttawmp on August 2, 1675. The attack became known as Wheeler’s Surprise.

Here is Wheeler’s own account of the incident. https://westbrookfield.org/?page_id=93

Also: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=48786

The Williams/Weatherington Family and Scottish History

This post connects to my Williams family post: https://paulstroble.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/2323/

I’m devoting some of this new year to genealogy. In January I found a site familysearch.org, a service of the Mormons. I started to trace the Williams line (via my mom’s Grandma Crawford). Lo and behold, I discovered that (according to the information at this site) our direct ancestor is King James IV of Scotland (1473-1513), who was killed in the Battle of Flodden against the English. James himself is descended from Scottish hero Robert the Bruce (1274-1329), who succeeded William Wallace and led the First War of Scottish Independence against England.

“We can never be royals,” as the Lorde song goes, because we’re descended from one of James’ mistresses, Margaret Drummond, and not James’ royal wife Margaret Tudor. Some of the genealogical information doesn’t include the contributors’ sources, and I want to investigate more. So be historically correct, you might just tell people that this genealogical site traces these lines. Or, just grab yourself a sword and yell “FREEDOM!” as you run through the fields; just don’t hurt anyone or yourself. 🙂

I knew that our family the Crawfords had Scottish roots, but the Weatherington line certainly has significant history there, too—-including the more recent history that would be easier to verify (1600s and 1700s).

At that site, there are many lines to these various families. For this post, I only traced the direct line back to the Stuart monarchy.

Me, b. 1957

My parents:
Paul Stroble 1912-1999
m. Mildred Crawford 1919-2012

Mildred’s parents:
Josiah Crawford 1886-1954
Grace Pilcher 1890-1972

Josiah’s parents:
John Crawford 1864-1927
Susan Williams 1867-1926

Susan’s parents:
Josiah Williams 1819-1893
Margaret Brown 1839-1893

Josiah’s parents:
Josiah Williams 1786-1826
Comfort Weatherington 1793-1847

Comfort’s parents:
John Weatherington 1755-1831
Margaret McCracken 1759-1828

John’s parents:
Thomas Wethington 1724-1787
Margaret Monica Jones 1730-1763

Margaret’s parents:
Solomon Jones 1699-1749
Catherine Burns 1708-1749

Catherine’s parents:
Patrick Burnes 1674-1706
Bridget Warren 1685-1758

Patrick’s parents:
Rev. Dr. John Burns 1646-1692
Agnes McMillan 1648-1702

John’s parents:
John Burnes 1625-1700
Margaret Cumming 1641-1723

Margaret’s parents:
Robert Cuming 1600—
Isabel Innes, 1600-1655

Isabel’s parents:
Sir Robert Innes
Barbara Barnet

Barbara’s parents:
Alexander Barnet of Leys 1555-1619
Katherine Gordon 1550-1644

Katherine’s parents:
George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntley 1535-1576
Anne Hamilton Chatellerault, Countess of Huntley 1535-1574

George’s parents:
George Gordon 1513-1562
Elizabeth Keith

George’s parents:
John Gordon 1479-1578
Lady Margaret Stuart 1497-1578

Margaret’s parents:
James IV of Scotland 1473-1513
Margaret Drummond 1475-1501

James’ parents:
James III of Scotland 1451-1488
Margaret Oldenburg of Denmark 1456-1486

James’ parents:
James II of Scotland 1430-1460
Maria von Gueldres 1431-1463

James’ parents:
James I of Scotland 1394-1437
Joan Beauford, Queen Consort 1407-1445

James’ parents:
Robert III Stewart 1337-1406
Annabela Drummond 1350-1401

Robert’s parents:
Robert II Stewart 1316-1390
Elizabeth Mure of Rowallan 1320-1354

Robert’s parents:
Walter Stewart, 6th High Stewart 1296-1327
Margaret Bruce 1296-1316

Margaret’s parents:
Robert the Bruce 1274-1329
Isabella of Mar 1277-1296

James IV of Scotland

Robert the Bruce

Laws of Illinois Passed at Vandalia, 1820-1839

My hometown, Vandalia, IL, was state capital in 1819-1839. I found a site that listed all the collections of laws passed by the Illinois legislature during those years. I have all of these books except the two publications of incorporation laws, which I’ve never seen for sale since I began collecting in the 1990s.

http://www.wiu.edu/libraries/govpubs/illinois_laws/1818_1839.php

Pieterskerk in Leiden

This post connects to earlier posts: https://paulstroble.wordpress.com/2024/01/14/my-pilgrim-ancestors-in-leiden/ and https://paulstroble.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/my-family-the-washburns-back-to-the-pilgrims/

My 9-great-grandfather, Francis Cooke, was an English separatist who moved to Leiden in 1603, married Hester Mahieu, and they eventually joined the congregation of other separatists at the Pieterskerk (St. Peter’s Church) in Leiden. Eventually several of the families sailed on the ship Mayflower and settled in New England, while others stayed in Leiden. Cooke was one of the Mayflower passengers, and Hester came over a few years later. The Cookes’ 3-great-grandson, David Washburn, was my 3-great-grandfather and an early settler of my hometown area (Four Mile Prairie) in the 1830s. We got to visit the Pieterskerk and think about national, religious, and family history.

The first three photos are from our 2016 trip. The rest of the photos are from the Webster University Leiden commencement ceremony at the church in May 2023. My wife Beth is chancellor of Webster University.

My Pilgrim Ancestors in Leiden

This post connects to my previous poet here: https://paulstroble.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/my-family-the-washburns-back-to-the-pilgrims/

My 10th-great-grandfather Jacques le Mahieu (born about 1550, died after 1611) was buried in the Vrouwekerk in Leiden, a church that existed from the early 1300s until the 1800s. Some of the stones of the church are preserved and memorialized in this little plaza in Leiden.

Mahieu is believed to have been a French Protestant from the Walloon region. He is said to have been among the refugees from French Catholic persecution who travelled to Canterbury, England. He married Jeanne Leman Mahieu (1563-1609), and among their children was Hester Mahieu (c 1584-after 1666). Eventually the family settled in Leiden, where they affiliated with this church, the Vrouwekerk.
It was built as Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady). By late 1500s and early 1600s it had become a Protestant church—specifically a Walloon church who were joined by English Puritans who had migrated to Leiden.

As the plaque reads, Hester Mahieu married Francis Cooke (1583-1663) at this church. They are my 9th-great-grandparents. Cooke was one of those English Puritans who had settled in Leiden prior to deciding to travel to America.

Francis Cooke sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, along with a son. Hester and the rest of the children came to Plymouth three years later on the Anne. The family lived the rest of their lives in Plymouth Plantation and are buried there.

Eventually the descendants via the Cookes’ daughter Jane (1605-1666) became a family among my Brownstown, IL roots (the Washburn family).

In May, 2023, how lovely it was to stand where a distant ancestor was buried, and where two others were married.

Robert W. Ross, Vandalia & Fayette Co. Historian

Vandalia and Fayette County has had so many wonderful historians and caretakers of the local history. It captures people’s imagination and they devote their time to it. Robert W. Ross was born in Vandalia on December 31, 1843. Here he is in 1878 and 1910. His maternal grandfather Moses Philips was a furniture maker in Vandalia when the town was state capital. Ross wrote two indispensable history books. One is Historical Souvenir of Vandalia, Illinois (1904), which has many photographs of local people and a wealth of information about the town. The other is the long and detailed History of Fayette County (1910), which was published in volume 2 of the Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois. Both of Ross’ books have been reprinted. He was a Civil War veteran who served in different elective offices in Fayette County government, and in the state legislature representing Bond, Fayette, and Montgomery Counties. Although his name is on the family tombstone in Vandalia’s Old State Cemetery, he is buried in the row of veterans along the road in the South Hill Cemetery. I always notice it when I drive over to visit my parents’ graves, which are up the hill.