William Monroe Franklin

Class of
1956
William Monroe Franklin

William Monroe Franklin

“The most worthy endeavors are of a spiritual, moral and ethical nature. They are what endures.”
William Franklin

Biography

William Franklin was born on a farm near Poetry, Texas and was a schoolteacher until around the age of 20, when he worked on a cattle boat to Scotland. After returning home to Texas several years later, he rode on horseback into Ardmore, Oklahoma and began the study of law at a local law office, where he worked to pay his way by making collections and serving papers for lawyers. He was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar in 1900 and elected to Oklahoma’s first State Senate, where he served two terms. He introduced important bills that would become law in the state including Child Labor and General Labor laws, a uniform textbook law, and a medical practice act. He was also the Commissioner of Securities when he helped write the Oklahoma Public Welfare Code and was the general attorney for the National Farmer’s Union.

Fun fact

In 1905 William Franklin joined 160 statehood delegates traveling to Washington, D.C. He was chosen as a speaker before the Territories Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of joint statehood between the Oklahoma and Indian territories and in opposition to separate statehood for the two territories.

Oklahoma connections

Franklin came to Ardmore, Indian Territory to study law around 1898.

Hometown

Ardmore

Profession

Public Servant

Presenter

Born

1874

Died

1962
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