Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/9

Robert McGill Loughridge, D.D. (December 24, 1809 - July 8, 1900) was an American Presbyterian missionary who served among the Creek Indians in Indian Territory. He attended Miami University, Ohio, and graduated in 1837; Loughridge was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in October 1842. In 1843 Loughridge entered Indian Territory and established the Koweta Mission. Seven years later, in 1850, he also established the Tullahassee Mission. During his ministry to the Creek Indians he became skilled in their language, and with help from Legus Perryman translated and transcribed portions of the Bible, along with hymns and catechisms, assisted by Ann Eliza Robertson. In 1890, Loughridge published an English and Muskogee Dictionary, the first dictionary of the Creek language, with David M. Hodge. He also preached the first sermon in downtown Tulsa and in 1907 he founded and built the First Presbyterian Church of Coweta, which is now a museum and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Read more...)