AEW Robertson Received Honorary Degree

On June 18th, 1892, the University of Wooster in Ohio honored Ann Eliza Worchester Robertson with an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree. This award is believed to be a first for Oklahoma.



Ann Eliza Worchester was born in Brainerd, Tennessee, on November 7th, 1826. She was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Austin Worchester and Erminia Nash. At the time of her birth, her parents were missionaries to the Cherokees in Tennessee. Her father was a seventh generation minister. Later, her parents were missionaries in Georgia before immigrating to Indian Territory with the Cherokees on the "Trail of Tears."


In the new Cherokee Nation, her father's talents produced numerous publications in the Cherokee, Creek and Choctaw languages. Especially notable was his bringing the first printing press to the Cherokee Nation. He worked his adult life on translating a Bible and hymnal in Cherokee.


Ann Eliza was Samuel's first-born child. Her gift of hearing and intellectual curiosity predestined her to follow in her parents' steps. She married in 1850 to the Rev. William Schenk Robertson, of the Tullahassee Mission in the Creek Nation. To this union were born four daughters and three sons. Their second child was Mary Alice, the second woman elected to the US House of Representatives.


Ann Eliza's days were full at the mission. Caring for the children, hers and the students, included teaching and nurturing. During this period, she came to see the need for a Bible written in the Creek language for both uses.


She began, despite her heavy responsibilities, to spend a few spare moments with the translation of the Bible into Creek. As the years passed, Creeks who were once students under her care began contributing words and phrases. Classically trained fellow missionaries also helped in translating the Greek words into the Creek language.


Ann Eliza's knowledge of the almost exclusively oral Creek language became widely recognized. When the US Bureau of Ethnology sent representatives into the Creek Nation to preserve the Creek heritage and culture, they found Ann Eliza. By the 1880's her memory was exactly the source needed in their work. After the chroniclers' return to Washington, DC, their long letters filled with questions came to the mission.


The passing years and growing infirmaries slowed Ann Eliza down, but dampened her enthusiasm none at all. At last, she completed the translation of the Bible.


Following the closing of the Tullahassee Mission, Ann Eliza moved into Muskogee and lived with her daughter now called "Miss Alice" Robertson. During her last years, Ann Eliza was "Professor Emeritus" at the Henry Kendall College.


Ann Eliza passed away in the early morning hours of November 19th, 1905, in her daughter's home. She was 79 years old. The woman who "gave literature to the Creeks" joined her husband and three children. Her funeral in the First Presbyterian attracted a packed crowd of sympathizers, many who grew to adulthood under her care and attention.


Her obituary in the Muskogee Democrat newspaper summed up Ann Eliza this way. "Mrs. Robertson's life was devoted to her fellow man, rich and poor, black white or red have known her as friend…" Her gift of a literature to the Creek Nation earned her love and respect.