John Abner HARRIER

                   John Harrier was enrolled in the Daniel School District No. 1; Mason County, IL, during the school year 1908-1909. A school picture of him along with his school mates is shown in the Mason Cunty District Newspaper; dated July 19, 1962.  Later in life John gambled, drank a lot and was even a little notorious around the Ingalls, KS area. John could drink a gallon of alcohol and you could not tell it. There were very few times during his adult life that were spent sober since he always drank. A person once said that "If anybody wanted to bet with John Harrier, and you would bet him that the sun would not come up the next morning, he would take on the bet". John Harrier was well known for betting on horses and gambling. On one occasion in the early 1930's, he had a car accident in which the car caught on fire.
The authorities tried to prove that he set the fire after the accident, since one person stated that they heard him say "throw a match in it". He went to trial in this case but was proven not guilty. On another occasion, he was at Ingalls, KS with his friends drinking. An elderly
lady along with her daughter and two children who rented a store building on the main street to live in.  Somebody dared John to break into their house. John was just drunk enough that night that he decided to accept his friend's dare and break into the house. He spent 30
days in jail for this offense. This happened when his daughter (Donna) was two months old
(November, 1933). Although his wife Martha never said anything to her sister Gertrude, Martha's best friend Cleo said that Martha would sometimes come to work with black eyes. They fought often. John would leave her for several days at a time to go on a drinking spree
or to go "bootlegging" during the prohibition era. He sold alcohol to anybody and he really didn't worry about getting caught, because he paid off the local law officials. He hauled the liquor into Gray County, KS from either Arkansas or Missouri, who he bought from hillbillies who operated the whiskey stills. He never received any complaints since people always came back for more. Since John was always gone so much because he was always running bootleg liquor, John asked Martha's sister Gertrude to stay with Martha since she was pregnant with Donna and Donald (son) was only one year old. John gave specific instruction to Gertrude that if the Sheriff ever showed up at their house (East part of
Cimarron, North side of Highway 50 - No longer standing), to pour the whiskey down a knothole in the floor, so that the Sheriff would not have any evidence to use against John. On one occasion while John was gone, the Sheriff showed up. It really scared Martha and
Gertrude. Martha instructed Gertrude to go pour the whiskey down the knothole in the floor. Gertrude said that when she went to the back room, she found a keg of whiskey. Gertrude poured the whole keg down the knothole in the floor, while Martha met the Sheriff at the door and kept talking to the Sheriff. Later they found out that the Sheriff was not there to check for bootleg whiskey. When John found out, he just laughed because that's what he told them to do. John was present for the birth of his daughter when Donna was born. He was very happy when she was born. John had a friend who ran a hotel that the famous outlaws "Bonnie & Clyde" stayed at one evening while passing through the Southwest Kansas area. Nothing eventful happened during their stay in this hotel that night.  Gertrude commented John was very helpful in watching Cecil (Gertrude's Husband) after he had an
accident during a tornado, in which the tornado overturned the pickup truck in which Cecil was driving. Cecil was unconscious for several days before he died. John often spent many nights with him since he could not be left alone. In his later life (Late 1960's or early 1970's) he was baptized in the Baptist Church. Prior to her death, his mother Hattie prayed for many years that he would accept the Lord. I was only after her death that her prayers were finally answered. He never took another drink of alcohol after this. His funeral was held on Tuesday, May 11, 1976 at 10:00 AM at the Baptist Church in Cimarron, Kansas. The Rev. Buddy Jones officiated and John's nephews' were the pallbearers. He is buried at the Cimarron City Cemetery in Cimarron, Kansas. Arrangements were made by Schroeder Funeral Chapel of Cimarron, Kansas.