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Charleston, TN
Gideon
Blackburn
School
Charleston
,
TN
 Considered the first missionary to the Cherokee Indians, Presbyterian minister Gideon Blackburn opened a school for Cherokee Children in 1804. He had moved to what is now east
Tennessee
in 1787 and received his license to preach in 1792. Known as a powerful public preacher, he developed an interest in missionary work to Native Americans while serving as an itinerate chaplain to the military during the war with the Chickamaugas and Creeks. In 1803 he petitioned the Presbyterian General Assembly to support the start of a school for Cherokee children. When chief Doublehead was assassinated in 1807,
Blackburn
moved the school to safer territory in Tellico.
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