William Miller Jenkins

William Miller Jenkins (April 25, 1856 - October 19, 1941) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He was appointed by President William McKinley in 1901 as the fifth governor of Oklahoma Territory. However, he had only served for six months when President Theodore Roosevelt removed him from office, after receiving complaints of political malfeasance. Although Jenkins was exonerated by subsequent investigations, his removal could not be undone, forcing his early retirement.

Early life The son of Henry J. and Lydia (Miller) Jenkins, William Miller Jenkins was born at Alliance, Ohio, on April 25, 1858. He attended public schools and then Mt. Union College at Alliance. He taught school in Stark County from 1876 until 1878. On December 21, 1878, Jenkins married Delphina White of Dublin, Indiana.

Jenkins and his wife removed to Shelby County, Iowa, in 1880, where he was admitted to the bar in 1883. The second statement is probably incorrect because, 1.political subdivisions in Louisiana are always named as parishes, and 2. there is no parish named Shelby. In 1884, he relocated to Arkansas City, Kansas, where he opened a private law practice. In 1888, he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, where he was the first to cast a vote for William McKinley, who was running for the party's presidential nomination.

Late life and death Jenkins returned to his farm in Kay County, then lived for a few years in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Subsequent to his retirement, Governor Jenkins spent a few years in Utah. Upon returning to Oklahoma, he settled in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. In 1920, he was elected Court Clerk of Creek County, Oklahoma. He died at Sapulpa on October 19, 1941, and was buried in the South Heights Cemetery there.