Paul James Moore

The Life and Times of Lawrie Tatum Paul James Moore

Lawrie Tatum was the first Agent for the Kiowa-Comanche Reservation under President Grant. Unfortunately, Very little has been written about him. This study begins with his ancestry and early child-hood in the east and experiences as an Iowa pioneering building a small community called Springdale, in Iowa dur-ing the early 1840s. He played a pivotal role initiating Quaker organizations around him. During the troubling years leading to the Civil War he participated in the historic Underground Railroad and watched from a distance as John Brown visited their community from time to time in preparation for what they later learned was an attack on Harper's Ferry. Guided by a special courage and devoted faith, he took part in Grant's "Holy Experiment" administrating the warring Kiowa and Comanche tribes through a momentous confrontational period in American history. Following his return to Springdale, his Quaker focus changed bringing about an unintentional split among Quakers. The final chapter deals with the details of that break