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HON. WILLIAM M. FRANKLIN
Vol. 3, p. 1016-1018

One of the most important offices in the Oklahoma state government
is clerk of the Supreme Court, and in 1914 the people made a worthy
choice and a deserved recognition of ability, experienced political
service, and peculiar fitness for the honors to which he aspired,
when they elected William M. Franklin to these responsibilities.

Under the territorial government and also under the state government
up to January 1, 1914, the office of clerk of the Supreme Court, was
maintained on the fee system. With the growth of the state and with
the development of the volume of business handled by the supreme
Court and the Criminal Court of Appeals, to both of which one clerk
was assigned, the revenues of the office amounted up to about $11,000
a year. During his term in the State Senate, Senator FRANKLIN
introduced bills at each session to place the office of clerk among
the salaried positions in the state, and as a result the office now
pays a salary of $3,000 a year, with all fees paid into the state
treasury. Mr. Franklin was the first clerk elected under the new
system. In the election of November, 1914, he received the greatest
plurality of any one on the state ticket by 3,000 votes, while his
majority over his nearest opponent was 34,800. He took office
November 16, 1914, to fill to the vacancy caused by the death of Mr.
CAMPBELL, and his regular term of four years from January, 1915, to
January, 1919. In addition to his scrupulous acceptance of the funds
of the salaried position, Mr. Franklin has already perfected reforms
in the management of the office that will save the state between
$4,000 and $5,000 annually.

Before taking up a formal biography it will be proper to renew the
public record of Mr. Franklin in other fields. His work as senator
stands out conspicuously. For a number of years he had been an
earnest advocate for statehood for Oklahoma, and was a member of the
delegation which went to Washington in December, 1905, to urge the
favorable action of Congress in this matter. After the passage of the
enabling act Mr. Franklin became a candidate for the State Senate,
and was elected in September, 1907, and in that election received the
highest percentage of majorities with which any member of the body
was honored. He was strongly supported by the farmers, who had
petitioned him to make the race, and he well justified the confidence
thus shown him. The first election was in the short term, but his
service so recommended him to his constituents that in 1908 they
unanimously returned him for the four-year term. In that election he
succeeded in carrying both counties at the primaries by large
majority.

During his term as senator, from the beginning of statehood until
January, 1913, a period of nearly six years, in which were held five
sessions of the Legislature, Senator Franklin made a remarkable
record in faithful attendance and consistency in his performance of
duty. He missed only three days from roll call, and that was on
account of sickness. During his service in the Senate he was chairman
of the Committee on Commerce and Labor during the First Legislature;
chairman of the Legal Advisory Committee of the Third Legislature;
and a member of the Steering and Sifting Committee, as well as a
member of the Judiciary and other important committees. He was also
recognized as the labor leader in the Senate.

While he was still a member of the Senate his work was described as
follows: "He was not only a watcher but a worker, and soon secured
the passage of eleven bills and two resolutions-eight of which
measures vitalize sections of the State Constitution and four of them
were especially noted by the governor in his message to the
Legislature. He was the author of the following: Anti-bucket shop
bill; an act defining the duties of labor commissioners, creating the
board of arbitration and conciliation, and providing laws in relation
to labor employed in the mining, transportation, mechanical and
manufacturing industries of the state; an act relating to the
teaching of agriculture and allied objects, for the purpose of giving
practical educational values and providing for schools of secondary
grades with course of studies leading to the Agricultural and
Mechanical College; and a joint resolution relating to the election
of United States senators by the people and the calling of a
convention to amend the Federal Constitution toward that end, which
the governor declared in a message to be the most practical plan ever
submitted on the subject. He also prepared at this session most of
the health and medical practice acts which were considered by the
Legislature, and the Associated Press declared his inheritance tax
bill to be 'more unique and equitable than any law of the kind in the
United States.' " This refers to his legislative record during his
first term. A more complete summary of his legislative performance is
found in his authorship of the child labor law, one of the most
advance and beneficial pieces of legislation in Oklahoma; the general
labor law' the industrial education law; the anti-bucket shop law,
demanded by the farmers; the charter fee law as a result of which
more than $1000,000 annually is brought into the state treasury; the
resolution relating to the election of United States senators by a
direct vote of the people; and a number of other measures for human
rights and economical administration. Some of his friends pointed out
a special characteristic of his polity in that he has always "opposed
going at an automobile speed on a wheelbarrow income.

At the close of the 1908-1909 session Governor HASKELL appointed
Senator Franklin a delegate to the Southern Conference on Child Labor
Laws, which met a New Orleans. During 1911-1912 Senator Franklin was
president of the State Conference of Charities and Corrections, and
is now a member of its executive committee.

Senator Franklin has always lived close to the people, and has shown
an absolute sincerity in his position with regard to labor. A report
by a committee of the Oklahoma Federation of Labor said of him in
part as follows: "Senator Franklin who lived in the midst of an
agricultural community, did not need for political reasons to line up
with the laboring people, but had the greatest desire for humanity's
sake to help us along in establishing those protective laws which our
people so much need. * * * Franklin came through the session with the
grandest record for legislation to his name of any man in either
house." He has always been absolutely free from corporation influence
or control, and as one of the Oklahoma papers said: Senator Franklin
is one of the most earnest, sincere advocates of economy, honesty,
and efficiency in government. He has been an ardent supporter of
labor issues and has stood close to the farming interests. He is an
able lawyer and would fill the office of clerk of the supreme court
in a most efficient manner. He has additional advantage of legal
knowledge and thorough official training."

At the democratic primary election in 1912 for the nomination of a
congressman at large, with three to elect, Mr. Franklin stood fifth
in a race among twenty-eight candidates for the nomination. He went
into the fight with no special organization, and without money, and
made a splendid showing, although circumstances were against him.
After the primary he organized and was made president of the Marshall
County Wilson-Marshall Democratic Club, and was an active factor in
rolling up a good majority for the general ticket in his section of
Oklahoma.

William M. Franklin, whose home is at Madill, where he began
practicing law, was born in Cooke County, Texas, December 9, 1876, a
son of M. M. and Melissa J. (WILLIAMS) Franklin. The family homestead
was on the boundary of Cooke and Montague counties. The mother died
in 1884 and the father twelve years later. His father was familiarly
known as Mel Franklin, and was born in Mississippi in 1852. For his
second wife he married Miss Annie E. BROWNING, who reared the two
children of her marriage, making a family of six in all.

William M. Franklin spent the first fifteen years of his life on a
farm, and there were years of hard schooling in contrast with
circumstances. He early learned what it is to be a farmer, and had to
gain his education in the intervals between farm duties. At the age
of fifteen he became a student in the college at Mineral Wells,
Texas, and there showed exceptional talent for extemporaneous
speaking, gaining a reputation and several prizes for this talent.
Before reaching his majority he began teaching school and also
farming in the Chickasaw Nation of Indian Territory. His first
practical introduction to politics came in 1896, at the age of
twenty, when he went to New England and took part in the Bryan
campaign both as a journalist and a speaker. While in the East he
extended his travels to Europe, visiting both Ireland and Scotland.
On returning to Texas he resumed farming for two years.

Having in the meantime determined upon the law as his vocation, he
located at Ardmore and was in the office of POTTER & BOWMAN until he
creditable passed the examinations for admission to the bar in Judge
Townsend's court. On the establishment of a commissioner's court at
Madill, he moved to that place as a member of the firm of HARDY,
FRANKLIN & SLOUGH, which firm later became Hardy & Franklin, and so
continued until 1910, when Mr. Hardy was elected to the bench of the
District Court. Mr. Franklin almost from the first enjoyed an
important practice and had the handling of some civil cases of
special interest on account of their involving citizenship and land
titles. These cases were tried before the Government department at
Washington. One case of special note was Archard vs McGahey, known on
the docket as Chickasaw Contest No. 1, and with which was
consolidated twenty other similar cases. The contest involved about
5,000 acres of land near Madill, a tract which became known as the
"Government farm" from the fact that the litigation was so long in
the courts. The battle was fought for four years in the United States
courts and three years before the Commission to the Five Civilized
Tribes and departments of ultimate jurisdiction at Washington. The
firm of Hardy & Franklin represented the plaintiffs, and the final
decision was in the nature of a signal victory for the young
attorneys at Madill. Senator Franklin's high position as a lawyer can
also be judged from the fact that for four years he served as
president of the Marshall County Bar Association.

Senator Franklin has been interested in fraternal matters, and up to
1913 was head consul of the Woodmen of the World. He is a member of
the Woodmen Circle, the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He has also served as brigadier
general of the Chickasaw Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The marriage of Senator Franklin on December 20, 1908, to Miss
Mattie Louise YOUNG was a social event that attracted great attention
all over the state, and particularly in the social circles of
Guthrie, the state capital, where Senator Franklin was well known and
was rapidly gaining a reputation as a senatorial leader. The marriage
brought out the story of an interesting romance, and the story was
told that Senator Franklin first became interested in his future wife
through hearing her father speak of her many accomplishments. Her
father was G. W. Young, a well-known ranchman, capitalist and
politician of Oklahoma, and who is now serving his second term as
county commissioner of Carter County. Senator Franklin had known him
and known of his family for several years. At the time Mr. Franklin
met Miss Young she was teaching school for the benefit of their
neighbors' children, in a schoolhouse which her father built out of
his own money. Miss Young at the time of her marriage was not yet
eighteen years of age. Mr. Young is an old citizen of Oklahoma, and
his wife was of one-eighth Indian blood and related to Gov. Douglas
H. JOHNSTON of the Chickasaw Nation and also to Mrs. William H.
MURRAY. Mrs. Franklin was educated in the Bloomfield Seminary, an
Indian school for young ladies, and was graduated from Hargrove
College at Ardmore. She is a woman of talent and culture and in early
girlhood attracted attention on account of her proficiency as a
violinist and won a number of medals in school and elsewhere for her
musical accomplishment. After her marriage she at once became a
social favorite in the capital. Senator and Mrs. Franklin now reside
at Oklahoma City, though they still maintain a residence at Madill.
To their marriage have been born two children: Prentiss Orville
Franklin, born June 4, 1910; and Melvin Granville Franklin, born July
30, 1913.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Lee Ann Collins, January 11, 1999.

[NOTE: Milton Wm. Hardy landrush@webzone.net wrote on Tue, 17 Aug
1999 - Basically I'm writing to say hi to Sen. Franklin as I am
direct grandson of Summers Hardy, son of Milton Welch Hardy, I am an
artist residing in Tulsa (918) 742-5740. I would be ever so happy to
receive any and all information you should have on my family,
grandparents and or any of the other surnames I have listed.]