Harry LeGore
Encyclopedia
Harry William LeGore was an American football
and baseball
player, Maryland
state legislator and businessman.
. 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 University
.
where he played for the school's football, baseball and basketball teams and was a member of Skull and Bones
.
In football, LeGore played halfback
and fullback
. He also handled punting duties and reportedly had a 65-yard average. 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."
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 autobigraphy: "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."
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
, and as a second-team All-American by Walter Camp
for Collier's Weekly
and Walter Eckersall
, of the Chicago Tribune
.
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.
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
, International News Service
, Walter Eckersall
of the Chicago Tribune
, and Paul Purman
, noted sports writer whose All-American team was syndicated in newspapers across the United States, and University of Michigan
football coach Fielding H. Yost. In selecting LeGore as an All-American, Walter Camp called him "one of the nation's greatest athletes."
, 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.
. 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.
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
.
He was the county's first athlete to be selected as a collegiate All-American.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
state legislator and businessman.
Early years
LeGore was born in Frederick County, MarylandFrederick County, Maryland
Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....
. He was a son of the James William LeGore. His father founded the LeGore Lime Company in 1861 and built the LeGore Bridge
LeGore Bridge
Begun in 1898 in rural Frederick County, Maryland, the LeGore Bridge was completed and opened to the public in 1900. It was built and maintained by the owners of the LeGore Lime Company, including local businessman James William LeGore and his company advisor, Eugene Hammond. It is 340 feet in...
near Woodsboro, Maryland
Woodsboro, Maryland
Woodsboro is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States that was granted to Joseph Wood in 1693. The population was 846 at the 2000 census.-History:...
.
LeGore attended the Tome School
Tome School
The Tome School is a private school located in North East in Cecil County in Maryland, USA and is one of the oldest schools in the state of Maryland.-Port Deposit:...
, Mercersburg Academy
Mercersburg Academy
Mercersburg Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school for grades 9-12 located in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, United States. The school's mission is:...
and Lafayette University
Lafayette University
Lafayette University may mean:* Lafayette College* University of Louisiana at Lafayette* Lafayette University, also known as Notre Dame de Lafayette University, a degree mill identified in Operation Dipscam...
.
Yale
LeGore enrolled at Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
where he played for the school's football, baseball and basketball teams and was a member of Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
.
In football, LeGore played halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
and fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
. He also handled punting duties and reportedly had a 65-yard average. American sports writer Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
once wrote that he wouldn't trade LeGore for Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
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."
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
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
later wrote in his autobigraphy: "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."
At the end of the 1914 season, LeGore was selected as a first-team All-American by International News Service
International News Service
International News Service was a U.S.-based news agency founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.Established two years after the Scripps family founded the United Press Association, INS scrapped among the newswires...
sports editor Frank G. Menke
Frank G. Menke
Frank Grant Menke was an American newspaper reporter, author, and sports historian. He wrote for the Hearst Newspapers from 1912 to 1932 and his articles appeared daily in 300 newspapers across the country. He was billed by the Hearst syndicate as "America's Foremost Sport Writer"...
, and as a second-team All-American by Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
for Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
and Walter Eckersall
Walter Eckersall
Walter "Eckie" Eckersall was an American football player, official, and sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.-Early life:...
, of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
.
LeGore also played shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
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.
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:
"Harry Legore is the real shining light of the Eli football team, there isn't any doubt about that. Legore is the star, with a big 'S.' A couple of years ago Legore made a name for himself as an end runner and was the man who struck more terror to the hearts of 'Old Eli's opponents than any other man on the team. In the summer Legore played baseball, and someone said it was professional baseball with the result that Legore was barred from football as a 'professional.' Quite a sensation was created, but this year Legore was restored and it has been a mighty good thing for Yale that he was. And with his restoration to eligibility as an amateur athlete came the job of fullback on the Yale eleven."
At the end of the 1916 season, LeGore was selected as a second-team All-American by Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
for Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
, International News Service
International News Service
International News Service was a U.S.-based news agency founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.Established two years after the Scripps family founded the United Press Association, INS scrapped among the newswires...
, Walter Eckersall
Walter Eckersall
Walter "Eckie" Eckersall was an American football player, official, and sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.-Early life:...
of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, and Paul Purman
Paul Purman
Paul R. Purman was an American sportswriter. Purman had a lengthy career in journalism, but he is best known for his work in the years from 1916 to 1918 when his sports column was syndicated in hundreds of newspapers and he selected an annual All-America football team for the Newspaper Enterprise...
, noted sports writer whose All-American team was syndicated in newspapers across the United States, and University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
football coach Fielding H. Yost. In selecting LeGore as an All-American, Walter Camp called him "one of the nation's greatest athletes."
World War I
With the entry of the United States into World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, LeGore was one of ten Yale students recommended by the President of Yale for commissions in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. LeGore served overseas for two years with the Second Division.
Business and political career
After his discharge from the Marines, LeGore worked for the LeGore Lime Company. In 1930, LeGore was elected to the Maryland House of DelegatesMaryland House of Delegates
The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis...
. In 1934, he was elected to the Maryland State Senate
Maryland State Senate
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland...
. 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.
Posthumous honors
In 1977, LeGore was inducted into Maryland's Alvin G. Quinn Memorial Sports Hall of Fame.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
Frederick County, Maryland
Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....
.
He was the county's first athlete to be selected as a collegiate All-American.