Harry LeGore

{{Infobox college football player |name=Harry W. LeGore |image=Harry LeGore.jpg |birth_date=August 1, 1894 |birth_place= [[Frederick County, Maryland]], U.S. |death_date=June 7, 1956 |death_place=[[Frederick, Maryland]], U.S. |school=Yale Bulldogs |currentposition=[[Halfback (American football)|Halfback]], [[Fullback (American football)|Fullback]] |pastschools=[[Yale Bulldogs football|Yale]] (1914–1916) |highlights= * Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1914 College Football All-America Team|1914]]) * Second-team All-American ([[1916 College Football All-America Team|1916]]) }} '''Harry William LeGore''' (August 1, 1894 – June 7, 1956) was an American [[American football|football]] and [[baseball]] player, [[Maryland]] state legislator and businessman.

==Biography==

===Early years=== LeGore 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]].

===Yale=== LeGore enrolled at [[Yale University]] where he played for the school's football, baseball and basketball teams and was a member of [[Skull and Bones]].<ref name="Tap Day 1916">{{cite news | title="TAP DAY" AT YALE.: Three Senior Societies Choose Their Members with Campus Ceremonies. | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=19 May 1916 | pages=6}}</ref>

In football, LeGore played [[Halfback (American football)|halfback]] and [[Fullback (American football)|fullback]]. He also handled punting duties and reportedly had a 65-yard average.<ref name=Hall/> 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."<ref name=Hall/>

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."<ref name=Hall/>

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]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Menke Selects Annual All-American Eleven|publisher=New Castle News|date=1914-11-25}}</ref> and as a second-team All-American by [[Walter Camp]] for [[Collier's Weekly]] and [[Walter Eckersall]], of the [[Chicago Tribune]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Walter Camp's Three All-American Elevens|publisher=The Syracuse Herald|date=1914-12-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Eckersall Names All-Stars: Eckersall Names One Western Man; Maulbetsch of Michigan on All-American|publisher=Waterloo Evening Courier|date=1914-12-07}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Hall/>

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:

<blockquote>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."<ref>{{cite news|title=Legore Is Yale's Big Star|newspaper=The Lincoln Sunday Star|date=1916-11-19}}</ref></blockquote>

At the end of the 1916 season, LeGore was selected as a second-team All-American by [[Walter Camp]] for [[Collier's Weekly]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Three Colgate Men Picked By Camp for All-American Team|publisher=The Syracuse Herald|date=1916-12-26}}</ref> [[International News Service]],<ref>{{cite news |author=Velock |first=Jack |date=1916-12-04 |title=Have Hard Job Selecting All-American Team |publisher=[[Lima Times Democrat]]}}</ref> [[Walter Eckersall]] of the [[Chicago Tribune]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Four Westerners On All-American: 1916 Selection Made by W. Eckersall|publisher=Daily Review (Decatur, IL)|date=1916-12-11}}</ref> and [[Paul Purman]], noted sports writer whose All-American team was syndicated in newspapers across the United States,<ref>{{cite news|author=Paul Purman|title=The News' Own All-American 1916 Football Team|publisher=Des Moines Daily News|date=1916-12-02}}</ref> and [[University of Michigan]] football coach [[Fielding H. Yost]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Yost's 1916 All American|publisher=Mansfield News|date=1916-12-27}}</ref> In selecting LeGore as an All-American, Walter Camp called him "one of the nation's greatest athletes."<ref name=Hall/>

===World War I=== With 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|date=October 2021}}

===Business and political career=== After his discharge from the Marines, LeGore worked for the LeGore Lime Company.<ref name=Obit /> In 1930, LeGore was elected to the [[Maryland House of Delegates]] as a member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Maryland Manual |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc1100/sc1198/000000/000002/000000/000034/pdf/mdsa_sc1198_2_34.pdf |publisher=Maryland State Archives |access-date=October 15, 2024 |date=1930}}</ref> 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]].<ref name=Obit>{{cite news|title=Short Illness Proves Fatal to H.W. LeGore: Well-Known Business Man Was Prominent As Yale Athlete; Served Two Terms in General Assembly|newspaper=Frederick News-Post|date=1956-06-08}}</ref><ref name=Obit2>{{cite news|title=H. W. LeGore Rites Monday|newspaper=The News (Frederick, MD)|date=1956-06-09}}</ref>

===Posthumous honors=== In 1977, LeGore was inducted into Maryland's Alvin G. Quinn Memorial Sports Hall of Fame.<ref name=Hall>{{cite news|title=Hall of Famer: Harry LeGore|newspaper=Frederick News-Post|date=1977-01-10}}</ref>

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, Maryland|Frederick County]]. <ref name=Heroes>{{cite news|author=Stan Goldberg and Sheldon Shealer|title=Hundred years of heroes|newspaper=The Frederick News-Post|date=1999-12-31}}</ref> He was the county's first athlete to be selected as a collegiate All-American.<ref name=Heroes/>

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legore, Harry}} [[Category:1894 births]] [[Category:1956 deaths]] [[Category:Yale Bulldogs baseball players]] [[Category:Yale Bulldogs football players]] [[Category:Yale Bulldogs men's basketball players]] [[Category:All-American college football players]] [[Category:Republican Party Maryland state senators]] [[Category:Republican Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates]] [[Category:United States Marine Corps officers]] [[Category:People from Frederick County, Maryland]] [[Category:American men's basketball players]] [[Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I]] [[Category:Members of Skull and Bones]] [[Category:20th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly]] [[Category:American athlete-politicians]] [[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]