Don Chafin - As Sheriff

As Sheriff

After becoming sheriff of Logan County, Chafin became known as "the boss" of Logan County or "the czar", and its "best known citizen". His authority extended so far into every aspect of public life that he reportedly controlled every judge and jury in the county. According to Howard B. Lee, the former Attorney General of West Virginia, Chafin was so powerful that "no schoolteacher was employed without his approval."

Chafin's vast power attracted the attention of mine operators, who paid him to keep the unions out of Logan County. The operators bribed Chafin with large payments, and paid many of the expenses of the sheriff's department. While the exact payments to Chafin are unknown, a special commission ordered by Governor John Cornwell found that he received a payment of at least $32,700 per year in return for keeping the union out of Logan County. Other estimates of the bribes paid to Chafin range as high as $61,571 in 1921, and other evidence suggests the possibility of even higher figures. The historian Robert Shogan reports that although Chafin's annual salary was only $3,500 per year, his net worth by 1921 was in excess of $350,000, suggesting that he received bribes of at least $50,000 annually.

The operators also directly paid the salary of at least forty of Chafin's deputies, ensuring control over the department and favorable treatment. The bribes from the mine owners did indeed result in favors from Chafin; Chafin stationed one of his deputies at every railway station in Logan County to "guard against union organizers". Upon suspicion that someone entering the county was a union organizer, Chafin's deputies would either force him to leave, arrest him, or beat him. In one case, Chafin mistook J.L. Heiser, the Chief Clerk of the West Virginia Department of Mines, for a union organizer, then threatened him with a gun, hit him over the head with a blackjack, and forced him to leave the county. After the incident, realizing his mistake, Chafin paid Heiser $1,000 in compensation, but never faced any other consequences for his actions.