Merritt C. Mechem

Merritt Cramer Mechem ( born October 10, 1870 in Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas, † May 24, 1946 in Albuquerque, New Mexico ) was an American politician and from 1921 to 1923, the fifth Governor of the State of New Mexico.

Early years

Merritt Mechem attended after elementary school and Ottawa University and studied at the University of Kansas law later. In 1893 he was admitted to the bar. He then worked for ten years in Fort Smith ( Arkansas) in this profession. In 1903 he moved his practice to Tucumcari in New Mexico Territory.

Public offices

Between 1905 and 1909 Mechem was district attorney in Quay County and Guadalupe County. Subsequently, he was from 1909 to 1911 a member of the territorial Government Council. Also in 1909 he was appointed by President William Howard Taft to the Supreme Court ( Supreme Court ) of the New Mexico Territory appointed. He remained in this position until 1911. Afterwards it was until 1920 Judge of the Seventh District Court in Socorro. In 1920 he was elected as a candidate of the Republican Party with 51:48 percent of the vote to Democrat Richard H. Hanna for governor of his state.

Mechem took office on 1 January 1921. In his two-year tenure, the first women were appointed to government committees and women's suffrage, the 19th Amendment, ratified in New Mexico. Otherwise, his term was uneventful. Governor Mechem renounced in 1922 on a renewed candidacy and therefore resigned on 1 January 1923 from his office.

Further CV

After his governorship, he served until his death as a lawyer in Albuquerque. In the meantime, he was for a period President of the Bar Association of New Mexico. Governor Mechem died in May 1946. He was married to Eleanor Francis O'Heir. His nephew, Edwin L. Mechem was 1951-1963 several times Governor of New Mexico.