Cephas Washburn (July 25, 1793 – March 17, 1860) was a Christian missionary and educator who worked with the Cherokee of northwest Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.

While raising enough money to pursue higher education, he taught school in Groton, Massachusetts, in 1814 and 1815.

The Royalton Congregational Association in Randolph, Vermont, licensed Washburn to preach in January 1818.

Most Cherokee were removed across the Mississippi River to a designated part of Indian Territory (present Eastern Oklahoma)in 1838.

The party that traveled to Arkansas included not only Cephas Washburn and his wife, but also his brother in law, Reverend Alfred Finney, as well as several others who would support the educational facility.

Washburn founded Dwight Presbyterian Mission near present-day Russellville in 1820 to serve the newly arrived Cherokee.

Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College and a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.