Deputy Sheriff Joseph Z. Gore

Joseph Z. Gore

Deputy Sheriff Joe Gore was shot and killed during a disturbance between two miners at a meeting of the Blair Local Union 2887, United Mine Workers.

On October 5, 1920, two minors got into a physical altercation, so the next night, Deputy Gore attended the meeting. When another argument broke out around 8:00 p.m., a gunfight ensued. Deputy Gore was killed instantly. Four other minors were wounded, and one died a few days later.

Two men were charged with fighting, and a woman was charged with supplying a gun to her husband during the fight. The shooter fled the area. He was apprehended in Detroit, Michigan, in 1929 and charged with murder, but the results of the trial in 1930 are unknown.

Deputy Gore had served with the Logan County Sheriff's Office for one year. He was survived by seven children and grandchildren.

His cousin, Deputy Sheriff John C. Gore, was shot and killed in the line of duty on August 31, 1921.

Deputy Joe Gore is buried at Lawson Cemetery in Stollings in Logan County.