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Harry LeGore
Harry William LeGore (August 1, 1894 – June 7, 1956) was an American football and baseball player, Maryland state legislator and businessman. BiographyEarly yearsLeGore was born in Frederick County, Maryland. He was a son of the James William LeGore. His father founded the LeGore Lime Company in 1861 and built the LeGore Bridge near Woodsboro, Maryland. LeGore attended the Tome School, Mercersburg Academy and Lafayette College. YaleLeGore enrolled at Yale University where he played for the school's football, baseball and basketball teams and was a member of Skull and Bones.[1] In football, LeGore played halfback and fullback. He also handled punting duties and reportedly had a 65-yard average.[2] American sports writer Grantland Rice once wrote that he wouldn't trade LeGore for Red Grange and added: "Harry never played a poor game in his life. He was always a competitor first, last and always — and always had a little more when the chips were down."[2] In 1914, LeGore was the starting fullback for a Yale football team that compiled a 7-2 record and defeated Notre Dame 28-0, ending Notre Dame's 27-game win streak. Knute Rockne later wrote in his autobiography: "I sat on the sideline at New Haven that Saturday and saw a good Yale team captained by Bud Talbott with a crack halfback named Harry LeGore leading the attack. They made Notre Dame look like a high school squad."[2] At the end of the 1914 season, LeGore was selected as a first-team All-American by International News Service sports editor Frank G. Menke,[3] and as a second-team All-American by Walter Camp for Collier's Weekly and Walter Eckersall, of the Chicago Tribune.[4][5] LeGore also played shortstop for the Yale baseball team. In 1915, LeGore was ruled permanently ineligible to complete in college athletics after it was found that his food and lodging had been paid while playing summer baseball.[2] In 1916, LeGore's eligibility was restored. The Yale football team in 1915 had won only four games without LeGore in the lineup. With LeGore back in the lineup, the 1916 team went 8-1. A syndicated newspaper story about LeGore's return to Yale stated:
At the end of the 1916 season, LeGore was selected as a second-team All-American by Walter Camp for Collier's Weekly,[7] International News Service,[8] Walter Eckersall of the Chicago Tribune,[9] and Paul Purman, noted sports writer whose All-American team was syndicated in newspapers across the United States,[10] and University of Michigan football coach Fielding H. Yost.[11] In selecting LeGore as an All-American, Walter Camp called him "one of the nation's greatest athletes."[2] World War IWith the entry of the United States into World War I, LeGore was one of ten Yale students recommended by the President of Yale for commissions in the United States Marine Corps. LeGore served overseas for two years with the Second Division.[citation needed] Business and political careerAfter his discharge from the Marines, LeGore worked for the LeGore Lime Company.[12] In 1930, LeGore was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates as a member of the Republican Party.[13] In 1934, he was elected to the Maryland State Senate. In 1936, he made an unsuccessful run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. LeGore eventually became president of the LeGore Lime Company and also served as a director of the Potomac Edison Company.[12][14] Posthumous honorsIn 1977, LeGore was inducted into Maryland's Alvin G. Quinn Memorial Sports Hall of Fame.[2] In 1999, The News-Post in Maryland picked LeGore as one of the Top 25 most significant sports figures in the history of Frederick County. [15] He was the county's first athlete to be selected as a collegiate All-American.[15] References
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