Moravian Missionaries
1801 - 1898
The story of Oaks Indian Mission begins with Moravian missionaries who emigrated from Europe in the 1700s to work among the Cherokee in the Carolinas and Georgia. Though small in number, the Moravians were influential in Protestant history, being the first to declare evangelism as the church’s duty. Originating in southern Europe and later joined by Danes from the north, they shared a spiritual foundation in Martin Luther’s teachings.
From their base in Salem, North Carolina, the Moravians became the first successful missionaries to the Cherokee Nation, establishing a mission in Springplace, Georgia, in 1801.
The Cherokees valued education early on, often welcoming schools even when churches were only tolerated. The Moravians, one of only two denominations trusted as government agents, combined teaching with preaching. Their mission work began in Georgia but was disrupted by population growth and the discovery of gold, which led to forced Cherokee removal under President Jackson.
The first Cherokees moved to Arkansas in 1817. By 1834, Georgia seized Springplace Mission through a state lottery. The mission temporarily relocated to Tennessee before the final forced removal—known as the Trail of Tears—which caused the deaths of about one-third of the Cherokee Nation.
Ahead of the removal, three Moravian missionaries scouted a new site in present-day northeastern Oklahoma, near the Illinois River. They named it New Springplace, with land granted by Chief John Ross, a Methodist and supporter of missions. The school opened in 1842 with books donated by Ross.
After the Dawes Commission broke up Cherokee lands in 1893, New Springplace was reduced from 160 acres to just four. The mission eventually closed, and as statehood approached, Native Americans unsuccessfully proposed a separate state called Sequoyah.