Arad Simon Lakin

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" by Southerners. He was appointed president of the University of Alabama during the Reconstruction era.

Biography alt=Cartoon from September 1, 1868, published in the Tuscaloosa Independent Monitor. Lakin ("Ohio") and Cloud were the subject's hanging from the tree Cartoon from September 1, 1868, published in the Tuscaloosa Independent Monitor. Lakin ("Ohio") and Cloud were the subject's hanging from the tree Arad Simon Lakin was born in 1810 in Hancock, Delaware County, New York. Lakin served as the Chaplain of the 8th Indiana Cavalry, Union Army, during the American Civil War. 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 died on January 22, 1890, in Rockport, Kansas, and was buried in Alabama.