He had consecrated his life to the Master’s service; and often said if it were not for the great need in his own Territory, and his adaptability to that work, he would unhesitatingly go to the foreign field. His life was full of promise, and he looked forward with joy to winning many souls to the Savior. He had just completed a home, but the Lord called him to the place prepared for him in the Father’s house. Had he lived, no doubt but that he would have won many precious souls; but his death may be the means of leading many prodigals back to the Father’s house. “No man dieth unto himself.” “He rests from his labors and his works do follow him.”
From the very earliest days of Presbyterianism in Colonial America there were ministers involved in evangelism among their Indian neighbors. One missionary was Presbyterian minister David Brainerd who established a church for Indians near Freehold, New Jersey, but his ministry was short-lived because he died of tuberculosis when but twenty-nine years old. Jonathan Edwards’s family in Northampton cared for him during his last days and he was so impressed with Brainerd’s work that he published his journal in 1749. Brainerd’s influence on Edwards contributed to his decision to pastor the Congregational Church in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, while also serving as a missionary to the Mohican people.
Evangelism among the native nations by pastors continued but it was in 1803 that the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) appointed its first minister responsible for Indian missions. He was Gideon Blackburn who was fittingly qualified for work among the Cherokees in rugged eastern Tennessee because his ministerial gifts were enhanced by frontiersman knowledge and skills. When he preached his Bible was in hand with a musket leaning against the pulpit. It had to be challenging to show compassionate gospel ministry to the Cherokees while keeping an eye out for one’s own safety. Blackburn not only provided pastoral ministry but also operated schools for the Cherokee children.
Following the Civil War both the PCUSA and the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) operated missions in the Indian Territory in what became Oklahoma in 1907. The Territory was established in conjunction with the Indian Removal Act of May 28, 1830 that was enacted during the administration of President Andrew Jackson. Relocation between 1830 and 1850 included over a hundred thousand members of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole nations forced from their homes to the Territory with many dying along the way. Given the history of the Territory and resentment of these nations toward the Federal Government, the Presbyterians were challenged gaining the trust of those gathered on reservations in Oklahoma.
The PCUS experienced difficulties and setbacks with its missions in Indian Territory from about 1865 into the 1880s. The denomination determined that the best solution for handling the problems was to train native men for ministry among their own people. E. T. Thompson notes that by 1889 the PCUS had ten Indian clergy working with three missionaries to serve twenty-two churches. The greatest challenge was educating Native Americans for ordination, however, candidates from the Indian Territory most often grew up in Presbyterian schools and were better prepared for further study. Added to the challenges for missionaries was prejudice because the Little Big Horn massacre of George A. Custer’s troops in 1876 was still on people’s minds, and United States troops would continue fighting native peoples as the nineteenth century ended. Missionaries had to gain the Indians’ trust while suffering rebuke by their own people for ministering to those viewed only as enemies by many Americans.
Now, the subject turns to Joshua Bohannon. Unfortunately, the information accessed regarding his life is limited, so there are few facts to provide and some of his story is guess work. He was born in 1864 in the Choctaw Nation (lower right corner in the map), but his parents’ identities remain a mystery. It is possible he was an orphan, and his Bohannon surname was assigned to him by the orphanage, or he may have been adopted or sponsored by Bohannons.