Harry Don Mewhirter was a politician in Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...

 from 1914 to 1915 as a member of the Conservative Party

Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

.

Mewhirter was born in Sugar Grove

Sugar Grove, Illinois

Sugar Grove is a far west suburban Chicago village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,909 at the 2000 census. The population was 6,016 in the 2003 special census. The population was 7,958 in the 2005 special census...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, USA, and was educated in New Providence

New Providence, Iowa

New Providence is a city in Hardin County, Iowa, United States. The population was 227 at the 2000 census.-Geography:New Providence is located at ....

 and Des Moines

Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

. He graduated in pharmacy and chemistry, and moved to Canada in 1906. He became manager of the Gutta Percha and Rubber Co., Ltd. in Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, and resided in Dugald

Dugald, Manitoba

Dugald is a community in Manitoba, Canada, 22 km east of Winnipeg. It was the site of a railway accident in 1947.It is located in the rural municipality of Springfield.Dugald is the birthplace of former NHL goaltender Trevor Kidd....

. In religion, Mewhirter was a Presbyterian.

He was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1914 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1914

Manitoba's general election of July 10, 1914 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a fifth consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party, led by premier Rodmond P. Roblin...

, defeating Liberal

Manitoba Liberal Party

The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...

 Thomas Glendenning Hamilton

Thomas Glendenning Hamilton

Thomas Glendenning Hamilton was a Canadian doctor, school board trustee and member of the Manitoba legislature. He is best known however for the thousands of photographs he took during séances held in his home in Winnipeg in the early 1900s...

 by 364 votes in the Elmwood constituency. The Conservatives won this election, and Mewhirter sat as a backbench supporter of Rodmond P. Roblin's government.

In 1915, the Conservatives were forced to resign from office was a report commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba

The Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba is the viceregal representative in Manitoba of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...

 found the government guilty of corruption in the tendering of contracts for new legislative buildings. A new election

Manitoba general election, 1915

Manitoba's general election of August 6, 1915 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election was held only one year after the previous general election of 1914. In that election, the governing Conservatives of premier Rodmond P. Roblin were...

was called, which the Liberals won in a landslide. Mewhirter was not a candidate.