Benjamin Franklin Wilson (politician) explained

Ben Wilson
Office:Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
Term Start:1909
Term End:1911
Predecessor:William H. Murray
Successor:William A. Durant
State House2:Oklahoma
Term Start2:1907
Term End2:1911
Office3:Member of the Oklahoma Territorial House from the 13th district
Term Start3:1897
Term End3:1899
Predecessor3:W. H. Mason
Successor3:J. W. Heady
Birth Date:1855
Birth Place:Texas, US
Death Date:1934
Death Place:Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US
Spouse:Jenny Horne
Party:Democratic
Occupation:politician

Benjamin Franklin Wilson was an American politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. He was a member of the 1st Oklahoma Legislature and served as the second Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

Early life

Born in 1855, in Texas to John Wilson Jr. and Emily Brown. He later married Jenny Horne. Prior to his election, he was an alfalfa farmer.[1]

Political career

Wilson was among Oklahoma's first class of state legislators, serving in the 1st Oklahoma Legislature in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.[2] The state legislature met from December 2, 1907, to May 26, 1908, in the Guthrie City Hall Building during the first year of the only term of Governor Charles N. Haskell.[3]

He served as the second Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, during the 2nd Oklahoma Legislature.[3] At the time, he hailed from a town known as Cereal, which today is known as Banner, Oklahoma.[3]

Later life and death

Benjamin continued to live in Oklahoma, enumerated in the 1920 census in Canadian County, and 1930 census for Oklahoma County.[4] Benjamin Franklin Wilson died April 25, 1934.

Notes and References

  1. Russell, U. S., editor. Shawnee Daily Herald. (Shawnee, Okla.), Vol. 14, No. 8, Ed. 1 Tuesday, July 20, 1909, Newspaper, July 20, 1909; (http://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc103933/ : accessed August 18, 2015), Oklahoma Historical Society, The Gateway to Oklahoma History, http://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
  2. http://www.okhouse.gov/Members/Historic.aspx Historic Members
  3. http://www.okhouse.gov/Documents/CenturyToRemember.pdf A Century to Remember
  4. "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN1K-5PF : accessed 18 August 2015), Ben F Wilson, Union, Canadian, Oklahoma, United States; citing sheet 1A, family 9, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,821,455.