Inscription
The kneeling figure of Ellis folklore who stumped the curious
— and became a legend in his own time —
Though little is known of John's life prior to his arrival in Ellis during the 1870's, it is known that he worked as an Army muleskinner and also spent some time working on the Mississippi. In Ellis, John supported himself working as a stonemason until old age forced him to retire. Even though great speculation of why he prayed existed then and today, John never revealed the true reasons. Despite this, he always spoke freely of other subjects to those he knew.With clock-like regularity each day, no matter the weather, John went to a spot along the railroad tracks and prayed three to four times a day, many times for several hours. John always prayed bareheaded, his long hair blown by the Kansas wind and his face bare of any beard, exposed to the relentless summer sun and biting winter winds. Despite the ridicule by some of his lengthy and frequent prayers, John always spoke well of others and never uttered a cross word or cursed.
For many years he prayed along the railroad tracks at the western edge of town, however with the advent of the Kodak and John's legendary status, curious onlookers flocked to photograph him as he prayed, forcing him to abandon his rail-side altar and seek seclusion near Cemetery Hill. After suffering a two-week long illness, Praying John Horrigan died on a Monday evening, 22 May 1905. Today John is buried on Cemetery Hill near where he knelt so often in the prairie grasses. A red cedar tree near the north wall of Mount Hope Cemetery shades his grave and a stone marking his place of rest reads
Praying John Horrigan
Died 1905
Details
| HM Number | HM146U |
|---|---|
| Tags | |
| Placed By | Benedict Leonard Schoenberger |
| Marker Condition |  0 out of 10 (1 reports) |
| Date Added | Tuesday, October 21st, 2014 at 11:04pm PDT -07:00 |
Pictures
Locationbig map
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 14S E 451453 N 4310049 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 38.93803333, -99.56015000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 38° 56.282', W 99° 33.609' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 38° 56' 16.92" N, 99° 33' 36.54" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 785 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 923-937 Washington St, Ellis KS 67637, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.
Nearby Markersshow on map
Maintenance Issues
- Is this marker part of a series?
- What historical period does the marker represent?
- What historical place does the marker represent?
- What type of marker is it?
- What class is the marker?
- What style is the marker?
- Does the marker have a number?
- What year was the marker erected?
- This marker could use another picture or two.
- Can this marker be seen from the road?
- Is the marker in the median?
Comments 0 comments