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BEN F. WILLIAMS
Vol. 3, p. 1883-1884

Among the present generation of Oklahoma lawyers it is perhaps
needless to say that Ben F. WILLIAMS of Norman has a record that
places him among the leading criminal attorneys of the state. He has
served as attorney for the defense in some of the most noted criminal
trials held since the admission of Oklahoma to the Union. It was on
the strength of his well known qualifications as a lawyer that he was
appointed by the Supreme Court as a member of the Bar Commission of
Oklahoma. There are eleven members of this commission, two from each
Supreme Court District, and one member at large. It is this
commission which examines all applicants for admission to the bar,
and it sits twice a year in June and December.

Ben F. Williams, who is a son of the late Judge B. F. Williams, who
was a prominent lawyer and well known both in Texas and Oklahoma, was
born at Granbury, Hood County, Texas, March 21, 1877. His ancestors
were of Welsh stock and were colonial pioneers in South Carolina.
Judge B. F. Williams was born in Giles County, Tennessee, in 1826,
and died at Clinton, Oklahoma, in March, 1912. Reared in Tennessee he
went to Mississippi, where he married Miss H. E. RUCKER, who was born
in that state in 1837 and is still living in venerable years at
Clinton, Oklahoma. Not long after his marriage Judge Williams moved
to Falls County, Texas, and from there to Hood County. In 1878 he
located at Graham City in Young County, which was then on the
northwestern frontier of Texas. In 1886 he removed to Henrietta,
Texas, and in 1890 identified himself with the early bar of Oklahoma
City, and from 1896 until his death was a resident of Norman. He died
while on a visit at Clinton, Oklahoma. In the various localities
mentioned he enjoyed a large civil practice as a lawyer, and at one
time was judge of the District Court of Wichita Falls and Henrietta,
Texas. In politics he was a democrat, and his only secret order was
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In the Methodist Episcopal
Church he found opportunities for much service, and held every lay
office in the church. He and his wife had the following children:
Annie, wife of W. I. BRANNON, a merchant at Clinton, Oklahoma; Clara,
wife of Rev. Mr. CAMERON, a Baptist minister at Clarence, Oklahoma;
Mattie, wife of W. M. NEWELL, an attorney at Norman; Jean, wife of W.
E. FORGY, an attorney at Archer City, Texas; Ben F.; Etta, wife of W.
R. BARKSDALE, a merchant at Memphis, Tennessee; Johnnie, wife of H.
L. QUIET, who is cashier of the First State Bank of Clinton,
Oklahoma; Charlie, twin sister of Johnnie, and wife of William
MILTERBERGER, a miller and grain buyer at Clinton, Oklahoma; Lee, who
married Doctor BAUGAUS, a physician and surgeon at Temple, Texas;
Kate, twin sister of Lee, who is unmarried and is a teacher now
living at Archer City, Texas. Judge Williams by his first marriage
had two children: Mrs. Mary CARNAHAN, wife of a retired farmer at
Rogers, Arkansas; and Robert L. H., who was an attorney at
Goldthwaite, Texas, but died in a hospital at Temple, Texas.

Ben F. Williams had a public school education in Texas, finishing in
a high school at Henrietta, and for three years was a student in the
Polytechnic College at Fort Worth. His home has been at Norman since
1897, and in the meantime he had studied law in this father's office
and was admitted to the bar in 1899. His offices are in the Hullum
Building on East Main Street, and for fifteen years he has given all
his time to his large civil and criminal practice.

His services as a criminal lawyer have taken him to all parts of the
state. Only a few of the more noteworthy cases in which he has been
engaged can be mentioned. He assisted in the defense of James
STEVENSON, who was charged with the murder of City Marshal CATHEY of
Pauls Valley; this case was tried in 1908 and resulted in an
acquittal of the defendant. He assisted in the defense of Loreno
MATHEWS, who was charged with the murder of her husband, and she was
acquitted when tried at Guthrie in 1913. He was chief counsel for
John D. LINDSAY, former treasurer of Murray County, Oklahoma, who was
charged with the murder of Editor SCHENK at Sulphur; this case, tried
at Norman under a change of venue in 1914, resulted in acquittal. He
was chief counsel in the case of State v. Dr. J. H. COLBY and Wade
STOVALL, who were charged with the murder of two school directors in
McClain County in 1911. The case was tried at Norman in November
1913, resulted in acquittal.

Mr. Williams has been a democrat ever since casting his first
ballot. He is an active member of the County and State Bar
associations, and fraternally is affiliated with Norman Lodge No. 7,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Norman Camp No. 154, Woodmen of the
World, with the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Norman, and with
Purcell Lodge No. 1260, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a
stockholder in the Norman State Bank. In September, 1900, at Norman,
Mr. Williams married Miss Ninis O. HULLUM. Her father is a retired
capitalist and banker of Oklahoma City. To their union have been born
two daughters: Mildred Lee, born August 28, 1904; and Margaret
Lucile, born June 2, 1908.

Transcribed by: Dorothy M. Tenaza, August 1, 1999.

SOURCE: Thoburn, Joseph B., A Standard History of Oklahoma, An
Authentic Narrative of its Development, 5 v. (Chicago, New York: The
American Historical Society, 1916).