Roll of Honor
Incident
Sheriff Sam Dunfee was shot and killed at a garage in Provident during a gun battle with bootleggers.
A gun battle resulted when Sheriff Dunfee and his deputies surprised several men loading liquor into an automobile. Sheriff Dunfee was killed and one of the suspects was shot three times. Eight men were arrested at the scene but only one was charged with his murder.
On September 16th, 1926, the suspect was acquitted when gun experts declared that the bullet that killed Sheriff Dunfee came from a deputy's revolver.
Sheriff Dunfee was survived by his wife and five children. His wife was appointed to succeed him as sheriff.
Survivors
Sheriff Dunfee was survived by his wife and five children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OH-353CD4A0- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sheriff Dunfee served with the Belmont County Sheriff's Department.
Thank you for your service to the St. Clairsville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Dunfee.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff Samuel M. Dunfee is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In OH, 318 of 991 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32.1% of this state's fallen. That is 1.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Belmont County Sheriff's Department, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Samuel M. Dunfee's cause is highlighted.
How Samuel M. Dunfee Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Samuel M. Dunfee is highlighted in Aug.
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Belmont County Sheriff's Department are honored on badge.nw.
