Lawrie Tatum (May 16, 1822 in

Mullica Hill, New Jersey Mullica Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Harrison Township in Gloucester County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP's population was 3,982.Springdale, Iowa) was a Quaker who was best known as an

Indian Agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

to the

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

and Comanche tribes at Fort Sill agency in

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

. He was born to Quaker parents George and Lydia Tatum near Mullica Hill, New Jersey in 1822 and moved to Goshen, Ohio in 1831 followed by a move to

Cedar County, Iowa Cedar County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,505. Its county seat is Tipton. The county is named for the Cedar River, which runs through the county. Cedar County is located between t ...

in 1844. When President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

's "Peace Policy" concerning U.S. policy with Native American tribes went into effect, officials of the Society of Friends (Quakers) met with Grant and requested members of their organization be assigned as Indian agents. This led to the "Quaker Policy"; replacing corrupt agents in the Indian Bureau with Quakers, which was later expanded to include other religious denominations. On July 1, 1869, Tatum began his duties "acting in the capacity of governor, legislature, judge, sheriff and accounting officer" for the Kiowa and Comanche Agency at Fort Sill in the Indian Territory. Tatum was known to the Kiowa and Comanche tribes as Pot-ta-wat Pervo (Bald Head Agent). While acting as Indian agent, Tatum secured the release of many white and Mexican captives, including the family of Gottfried Koozer, whose wife and five children were kidnapped by Chief White Horse of the Kiowa. Tatum resigned as an Indian agent for the Comanche, Kiowa, and Wichita Reservation on March 31, 1873 with James M. Haworth appointed as his successor. Lawrie Tatum's departure precipitated partly to his opposition and protest for the release of Satanta and the Kiowa chief's participation in the Warren Wagon Train raid of 1871. In 1884, he was appointed guardian to future United States president

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

and Hoover's brother Theodore and sister Mary after the death of their mother. Having worked closely with American Indians and President Ulysses S. Grant, Tatum wrote an account of Grant's Peace Policy, entitled, ''Our red brothers and the peace policy of President Ulysses S. Grant'', first published in 1899. Tatum, 1899/1970, Title page

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* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tatum, Lawrie 1822 births 1900 deaths American Quakers People from Harrison Township, New Jersey People from Cedar County, Iowa Herbert Hoover 19th-century Quakers People from Clermont County, Ohio United States Indian agents