Rev. Arad Simon Lakin (May 10, 1810–January 22, 1890) was an American minister, and university president. He was a Methodist minister from New York state, sent to Alabama in order to reestablish the national Methodist Church in the state, and was labeled a "

carpetbagger In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical term used by Southerners to describe opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the lo ...

" by Southerners. He was appointed president of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

for a period during the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

Biography

Arad Simon Lakin was born in 1810 in

Hancock Hancock may refer to: Places in the United States * Hancock, Iowa * Hancock, Maine * Hancock, Maryland * Hancock, Massachusetts * Hancock, Michigan * Hancock, Minnesota * Hancock, Missouri * Hancock, New Hampshire ** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshire * ...

, Delaware County, New York. He grew up in New York state in rural poverty. Lakin served as the

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

of the 8th Indiana Cavalry,

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

, during the American Civil War. He was a reverend from Ohio and had been active in the political organizing of freed slaves. The Bishop of Ohio send minister Lakin to Alabama as a missionary for the national

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

(MEC). His goal was to establish a biracial congregation at MEC in Alabama and as a result, the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

targeted Lakin. On September 1, 1868, Lakin and Alabama School Superintendent

Noah B. Cloud Noah Bartlett Cloud (January 26, 1809 – November 5, 1875) was an American educator, surgeon, and politician. He served as Alabama's "Superintendent of Public Instruction", the superintendent of public schools after the American Civil War; and s ...

were the subject's of a Klan cartoon published in the ''Tuscaloosa Independent Monitor''. The cartoon featured images of the two educators lynched and hanging from a tree in the "City of Oaks" (or Tuscaloosa), with a KKK-labeled donkey below them, walking away. He resigned as president of the University of Alabama after Professor Wyman, who served on the university's board and who had refused to serve as president himself, and also refused to turn the keys over to Lakin. He died on January 22, 1890, in Rockport, Kansas, and was buried in Alabama.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakin, Arad Simon 1810 births 1890 deaths American Methodist clergy American Methodist missionaries People from Delaware County, New York Union Army chaplains Members of the Methodist Episcopal Church Presidents of the University of Alabama

Biography

See also

References