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Don Chafin

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Excerpt about Don Chafin, from West Virginia: A Film History (0:55)

Narrator: Standing between the miners and Mingo was Don Chafin, a tough, belligerent law man known as the "King of Logan." "No armed mob will cross Logan County," he vowed.

Denise Giardina: "Don Chafin was the sheriff of Logan County, but he was much more than that. He had his own private army. He received money directly from the coal company to defend it. He also was a protector of businesses in the same way that any organized crime outfit is. In other words, he would go to a business and say, 'If you don't let me protect you, I'll break your kneecaps.' That kind of thing. He ran his county with an iron fist. If you disagreed or got in the way, you were beaten, or you were shot, or you were thrown out.

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  • Company: West Virginia Humanities Council
  • Filmmaker: Mark Samels
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