William Franklin was born on a farm near Poetry, Texas and was a schoolteacher until around the age of 20, when he worked on a cattle boat to Scotland. After returning home to Texas several years later, he rode on horseback into Ardmore, Oklahoma and began the study of law at a local law office, where he worked to pay his way by making collections and serving papers for lawyers. He was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar in 1900 and elected to Oklahoma’s first State Senate, where he served two terms. He introduced important bills that would become law in the state including Child Labor and General Labor laws, a uniform textbook law, and a medical practice act. He was also the Commissioner of Securities when he helped write the Oklahoma Public Welfare Code and was the general attorney for the National Farmer’s Union.