Albert W. Moe
1884-1914
Albert Moe’s father was a civil war veteran who moved to La Center, Washington in 1884 with his wife and family. Albert was born in La Center and was the youngest, with two sisters and four brothers.
Albert married Blanche Davis in 1906. They had a son in 1907 and a daughter in 1909. Blanche died in 1909 and their daughter died three months later.
Moe was a day laborer and 1912 he joined the Portland Police Force. He was now supporting his aged father, mother and young son. During his work week he lived in a Portland apartment with another officer. His supervisor on the Morals Squad where he had worked the previous summer, described him as an “honest, conscientious, good worker and always taking it to bear if he could not keep busy.”
The Incident
On January 9, 1914, at 4:00 pm, Albert Moe was in the central station at 2nd and Oak, watching two officers playing checkers. The shifts were changing and a nearby officer was at his locker, bent over to brush off his trousers. This caused his revolver to fall out of its holster, firing when it hit the floor. The bullet struck Moe in the chest and exited out of his back. Another officer immediately came to his side and Moe called him by name before dying.
Moe and the officer whose gun discharged had only been on the force for two years. The gun was a new model of police revolver with a supposed safety lock made to prevent accidental discharges. The officer who dropped the gun was devastated by the event but managed to stay with the force for many years.
Moe was 30 and survived by his son and parents.
Albert married Blanche Davis in 1906. They had a son in 1907 and a daughter in 1909. Blanche died in 1909 and their daughter died three months later.
Moe was a day laborer and 1912 he joined the Portland Police Force. He was now supporting his aged father, mother and young son. During his work week he lived in a Portland apartment with another officer. His supervisor on the Morals Squad where he had worked the previous summer, described him as an “honest, conscientious, good worker and always taking it to bear if he could not keep busy.”
The Incident
On January 9, 1914, at 4:00 pm, Albert Moe was in the central station at 2nd and Oak, watching two officers playing checkers. The shifts were changing and a nearby officer was at his locker, bent over to brush off his trousers. This caused his revolver to fall out of its holster, firing when it hit the floor. The bullet struck Moe in the chest and exited out of his back. Another officer immediately came to his side and Moe called him by name before dying.
Moe and the officer whose gun discharged had only been on the force for two years. The gun was a new model of police revolver with a supposed safety lock made to prevent accidental discharges. The officer who dropped the gun was devastated by the event but managed to stay with the force for many years.
Moe was 30 and survived by his son and parents.