William C. McDonald

William C. McDonald (1912)

William Calhoun McDonald (born July 25, 1858 in Jordanville , Herkimer County , New York , † April 11, 1918 in Santa Fe , New Mexico ) was an American politician and from 1912 to 1917 the first governor of the state of New Mexico.

Early years

William McDonald attended Cazenovia Seminary in New York. After completing a law degree, he was admitted to the bar in 1880. In the same year he moved to Lincoln County in New Mexico, which was then still organized as New Mexico Territory . There he worked in various positions before he became a cattle breeder with his own ranch. He had previously learned this craft at various other livestock farms.

Political rise

McDonald was a member of the Democratic Party . In 1881 he was commissioned by the federal government to explore the country's mineral resources. Between 1885 and 1887 he was an assessor in Lincoln County. In 1891 he was elected to the territorial parliament; from 1895 to 1897 he was employed by the county government in Lincoln County. Between 1905 and 1911 he sat on the veterinary committee of the ranchers. Eventually he became chairman of the Democrats in his territory in 1910. On November 7, 1911, he was elected the first governor of the new state of New Mexico with 51:46 percent of the vote against the Republican Holm O. Bursum .

Governor of New Mexico

McDonald took office on January 6, 1912. His first task was to build a new government structure for his state. At the same time, he had to deal with unrest on the border with Mexico . In those years Mexico was deeply divided by internal revolutionary struggles; Bandits used this for their criminal machinations and often crossed the border to New Mexico and thus to the USA. In 1916 the federal government even sent regular soldiers to protect the border.

After the end of his governorship, McDonald was entrusted with the fuel administration ( Fuel Administrator ) of New Mexico during the First World War . He held this position until his death. William McDonald was married to Francis McCourt Tarbell, with whom he had five children.

Web links

• William McDonald in the National Governors Association (English)
• William C. McDonald in the database of Find a Grave (English)