Jacob Louis Hamon Sr. (June 5, 1873 – November 26, 1920) was an American attorney, oil millionaire, railway owner, and political figure. He was Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican National Committee, and after statehood, state chairman of the Republican National Committee. By 1920, he had become quite wealthy and an influential player in Republican Party politics. He allegedly swung enough Republican votes to assure Warren G. Harding would be the Republican candidate for President, and subsequently become the President-elect. It was rumored that Harding would name Hamon to an important post in the new administration. His murder, and the subsequent trial of his mistress, was national news in 1920. His mistress, private secretary and business agent, Clara Smith, was found innocent of murder charges. Personal life Hamon was born in Grenola, Kansas, and graduated from the University of Kansas with a law degree in 1898. In the same year, he married Georgia Perkins in Sedan, Kansas. They had two children, Jake L. Hamon Jr. (born 1901 or 1902) and Olivebelle Hamon (born 1909). Career Hamon moved to Lawton in 1901. He became city attorney. He was elected mayor. He was voted out of office in 1903, amid accusations of corruption and claims of extorting money from local gamblers. He became chairman of the Oklahoma Territory Republican National Committee. In 1909, he was a lobbyist in Washington, D. C. In 1910, he was accused of trying to bribe U.S. Senator Thomas Gore to support some land contracts that attorney J. M. McMurray had made with the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations. Gore claimed that the contracts were worth $30 million, and that Hamon stood to gain a 10 percent fee contingent on the sales. Hamon had offered Gore $25,000 for his favorable vote. Gore continued to oppose the sale. The charge was investigated by a congressional committee, where both McMurray and Hamon denied under oath that they had attempted to bribe the Senator Gore. He moved to Ardmore, Oklahoma in 1912, and, with circus owner, John Ringling, built a railway from Ardmore to Ringling, Oklahoma. Hamon had already begun speculating in oil leases in the Healdton oil field, where he reportedly became very wealthy. In 1920, he was elected a Republican National Committeeman for Oklahoma, defeating John Embry of Chandler and Oklahoma City's James J. McGraw of Oklahoma City. He helped broker the selection of Warren G. Harding for candidate for US