{{Short description|5th Governor of New Mexico}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Merritt C. Mechem | image = Merrit C. Mechem (1921).jpg | caption = | order = 5th | office = Governor of New Mexico | term_start = January 1, 1921 | term_end = January 1, 1923 | lieutenant = William H. Duckworth | predecessor = [[Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo]] | successor = [[James F. Hinkle]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1870|10|10|mf=y}} | birth_place = [[Ottawa, Kansas]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1946|5|24|1870|10|10}} | death_place = [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]], U.S. | spouse = Eleanor Frances O'Heir | profession = [[Lawyer|Attorney]] | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | signature = Signature of Merritt Cramer Mechem (1870–1946).png }} '''Merritt Cramer Mechem''' (October 10, 1870 – May 24, 1946) was an American politician who served as territorial Supreme Court justice and the fifth [[governor of New Mexico]].
==Biography== ===Early life=== Mechem was born in [[Ottawa, Kansas]], to Homer C. Mechem and Martha (Davenport) Mechem. He graduated from public school in Kansas and attended the [[University of Kansas]] and [[Ottawa University]]. He was admitted to the bar in 1893.<ref name="RGR">"The Republican Candidate" ''The Rio Grande Republic'' September 16, 1920 page 2, Bronson Printing Company, Las Cruces, NM</ref> After practicing law in Fort Smith, Arkansas for ten years, he moved his law practice to [[Tucumcari, New Mexico]] at the age of thirty-two in 1903.
===Career=== Mechem was appointed by [[Miguel Antonio Otero (II)|Governor Otero]] as the district attorney for [[Quay County, New Mexico|Quay]] and [[Guadalupe County, New Mexico|Guadalupe]] Counties of New Mexico, a position he held from 1905 to 1909, being reappointed by [[Herbert James Hagerman|Governor Hagerman]]. He also served as a member of the New Mexico Territorial Council from 1909 to 1911. In 1909 [[William Howard Taft|President Taft]] appointed him a justice of the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court where he served until 1911. Thereafter he served as a district judge for the Seventh Judicial District in [[Socorro, New Mexico|Socorro]] until 1920, being twice re-elected.
On the twelfth of February 1910, in Santa Fe, Judge Mechem was married to Miss Eleanor Frances O’Heir,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2556&h=746681&ssrc=pt&tid=69767023&pid=192026282940&usePUB=true&requr=2550866976735232&ur=0&gsfn=&gsln=&h=746681|title=Join Ancestry®|website=ancestry.com|accessdate=January 5, 2021}}</ref><ref name="RGR"/> a native of Chicago, Illinois.
In September 1917 in a famous attempt to silence the press Judge Mechem convicted the editor of the ''New Mexican'' of criminal contempt for publishing a story about the judge’s affidavit in a separate libel case against the newspaper. The contempt conviction was speedily reversed, but the underlying libel case was not dismissed until October 1919.<ref>La Farge, Oliver (1959) ''Santa Fe: The Autobiography of a Southwestern Town'' University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, p. 229</ref>
In 1920 he became the Republican candidate for governor and won by the largest percentage vote of any previous New Mexico gubernatorial election. He decided not to run for a second term.
In 1923 he opened his law practice in [[Albuquerque]] which he maintained until his death. His law offices were in the First National Bank building where he later associated with another former governor, [[Arthur T. Hannett]]. He served a term as president of the state bar association, and was a ranking [[Freemasonry|Mason]], an affiliate of the [[Scottish Rite]] bodies and holder of the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite at Santa Fe. He was also a member of the [[Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks]], [[Sons of the American Revolution]], the [[American Bar Association]], and the Albuquerque Lawyers Club. He died in 1946
==Electoral history== ===Governor of New Mexico=== {{Election box begin no change | title = Governor's election in New Mexico, 1920<ref>{{cite web|title=NM Governor [1920]|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=262112|website=Our Campaigns|access-date=January 13, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Martinez |editor1-first=Manuel |title=Official Manual, or Blue Book of the State of New Mexico: 1921/1922 |date=1921 |publisher=Santa Fe New Mexican Publishing Corporation |location=[[Santa Fe, NM]] |page=192 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015055034279&view=page&seq=192&q1=election |access-date=January 13, 2022}}</ref>
}} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change | candidate = Merritt C. Mechem | party = Republican Party (United States) | votes = 54,426 | percentage = 51.26 }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change | candidate = Richard H. Hanna | party = Democratic Party (United States) | votes = 50,755 | percentage = 47.80 }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change | candidate = W. E. McGrath | party = Farmer–Labor Party | votes = 1,004 | percentage = 0.95 }} {{Election box total no change | votes = 106185 | percentage = 100.0 }} {{Election box hold with party link no change | winner = Republican Party (United States) | loser = Democratic Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== * Sobel, Robert and Raimo. John (1978) "Mechem, Merritt Cramer (1870–1946)" ''Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States 1789-1978'' (in vol. 3 of four vols.) Meckler Publishing, Westport, CT, {{ISBN|0-930466-00-4}} * "Mechem, Merritt Cramer " ''Current Biography Yearbook'' 1946 edition. H.W. Wilson Co., New York * "Mechem, Merritt Cramer (1870–1946)" ''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography'' (Volume 33, 1947) James T. White & Co., New York
==External links== *[http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_new_mexico/col2-content/main-content-list/title_mechem_merritt.default.html "New Mexico Governor Merritt Cramer Mechem" National Governors Association]
{{S-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=[[Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor of New Mexico]]|years=[[1920 New Mexico gubernatorial election|1920]]}} {{s-aft|after=C. L. Hill}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |before=[[Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo]] |title=[[List of governors of New Mexico|Governor of New Mexico]] |years=1921–1923 |after=[[James F. Hinkle]]}} {{S-end}}
{{Governors of New Mexico}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mechem, Merrit C.}} [[Category:1870 births]] [[Category:1946 deaths]] [[Category:Members of the New Mexico Territorial Legislature]] [[Category:New Mexico Territory judges]] [[Category:New Mexico state court judges]] [[Category:Democratic Party governors of New Mexico]] [[Category:University of Kansas alumni]] [[Category:People from Tucumcari, New Mexico]] [[Category:Ottawa University alumni]] [[Category:Members of the Sons of the American Revolution]] [[Category:Arkansas lawyers]] [[Category:New Mexico lawyers]] [[Category:Republican Party governors of New Mexico]] [[Category:Politicians from Ottawa, Kansas]] [[Category:Baptists from New Mexico]] [[Category:People from Socorro, New Mexico]] [[Category:Baptists from Kansas]]