Deputy Sheriff Ernest W. Gaujot

Ernest W. Gaujot

Deputy Sheriff Ernest Gaujot was shot and killed by an employee at the Lowber Gas Coal Company near Lowber.

He had caught the employee sneak a bottle of moonshine into the camp. Deputy Gaujot searched the subject, confiscated a revolver, and took the man to the coal company's office. Inside the office, Deputy Gaujot lectured the man about attempting to bring the moonshine into the camp. He then returned the revolver to the subject and released him.

As he was leaving, the man started to curse at Deputy Gaujot and act disorderly. Deputy Gaujot grabbed the subject's arm in an attempt to arrest him, but the man pulled his revolver and fatally shot Deputy Gaujot in the chest and abdomen. The subject then turned the revolver on himself and committed suicide.

Deputy Sheriff Gaujot's body was taken to his hometown of Williamson, West Virginia, and buried at the Fairview Cemetery. He is survived by his daughter, two sisters, and three brothers. Deputy Gaujot's brothers are one of five sets of brothers who have received the Congressional Medal of Honor.