- William Miller Jenkins
Infobox US Territorial Governor
name= William Miller Jenkins
caption=
order= 5th
office= Governor of Oklahoma Territory
territory=Oklahoma Territory
term_start=April 15 ,1901
term_end=November 30 ,1901
appointed=William McKinley
predecessor=Cassius McDonald Barnes
successor=Thompson Benton Ferguson Fn|1
birth_date= birth date|1856|4|25|mf=y
birth_place=Alliance, Ohio
death_date= death date and age|1941|10|19|1856|4|25|1941|10|19|mf=y
death_place=Sapulpa, Oklahoma
spouse= Delphina White Jenkins
profession=Lawyer ,Statesman
party= Republican
footnotes= Fnb|1William C. Grimes served asActing Governor until President Roosevelt appointedThompson Benton Ferguson to the GovernorshipWilliam Miller Jenkins (
April 25 ,1856 -October 19 ,1941 ) was an American lawyer and Republicanpolitician who briefly served as the 5thGovernor of Oklahoma Territory .Early life
The son of Henry J. and Lydia (Miller) Jenkins, William Miller Jenkins was born at Alliance, Stark County,
Ohio , on April 25, 1858. He attended public schools and later attendingMt. Union College at Alliance. Jenkins would teacher school in Stark County from 1876 until 1878. OnDecember 21 ,1878 , Jenkins married Delphina White ofDoublin, Indiana .Jenkins and his wife removed to
Shelby County, Iowa , in 1880 where he was admitted to the bar in 1883. In 1884 he established his residence atArkansas City, Kansas , where he operated a private law practice. In 1888, he served as a delegate to theRepublican National Convention .Governorship
When the
Cherokee Outlet was opened to settlement onSeptember 16 ,1893 , Jenkins made the race and secured a homestead in Kay County where he would continue to practice law untli he entered government service. When PresidentWilliam McKinley appointedCassius McDonald Barnes asGovernor of Oklahoma Territory , he also appointed Jenkins to serve as the Territory's Secretary. Jenkins assumed that position in June of 1897 and would serve for four years until President McKinley elevated him to the governorship. Jenkins took the oath of office onApril 15 ,1901 . During his administration, the Comanche-Kiowa-Apache and the Wichita-Caddo Indian reservations were opened for settlement in August of 1901.Questions of Governor Jenkins's fidelity arose following the renewal of contracts for the care of the insane in the Territory. Following the assassination of President McKinley on
September 14 ,1901 , those questions developed into a outright opposition. Newly elevated PresidentTheodore Roosevelt immediately received demands to removed Governor Jenkins from office. Without affording the Governor an opportunity to defend himself, President Roosevelt summarily removed Jenkins from office onNovember 30 ,1901 . Territorial SecretaryWilliam C. Grimes became acting Governor until President Roosevelt appointedThompson Benton Ferguson to the Governorship onDecember 9 ,1901 .Territorial Governor Ferguson would later report to the Secretary of the Interior Jenkins had "suffered a great injustice."
Late life and death
Subsequent to his retirement, Governor Jenkins spent a few years in
California but upon his return toOklahoma , settled atSapulpa, Oklahoma and in 1920 was electedCourt Clerk ofCreek County, Oklahoma . He passed away at Sapulpa on October 19, 1941 and is buried in the South Heights Cemetery near that city.ee also
* [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v020/v020p218.html Chronicles of Oklahoma entry]
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