Benjamin Franklin Wilson (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.

Ben Wilson
Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
In office 1909–1911
Preceded by	William H. Murray
Succeeded by	William A. Durant
Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
In office 1907–1911
Member of the Oklahoma Territorial House from the 13th district
In office 1897–1899
Preceded by	W. H. Mason
Succeeded by	J. W. Heady
Personal details
Born	1855 Texas, US
Died	1934 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Jenny Horne
Occupation	politician

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.

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. Historic Members Archived 2013-07-11 at the Wayback Machine, Oklahoma House of Representatives. (accessed July 18, 2013)
3. A Century to Remember Archived September 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Oklahoma House of Representatives. (accessed July 18, 2013)
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.