Job Harriman

Job Harriman (January 15, 1861 – October 26, 1925) was an ordained minister who later became an agnostic and a socialist. In 1900, he ran for vice president of the United States along with Eugene Debs on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America. He later twice ran for mayor of Los Angeles, drawing considerable attention and support. He also founded a socialist utopian community called Llano del Rio in California, later relocated to Louisiana. Biography Early years Harriman was born on January 15, 1861, in Clinton County, Indiana. He lived on the family farm until he was 18. Harriman's early life was filled with religious influences by his parents. After graduating from Butler University in 1884, he went on into the ministry. He gradually came to doubt the ability of the church to fundamentally affect the lives of common people and to see organized religion as a trap. He recalled in 1902: