Robert Lee Williams

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American judge and politician (1868–1948)

For Robert Lee Williams, the Second President of the Association of Black Psychologists, see Robert Williams (psychologist) .

Robert Lee Williams (December 20, 1868 – April 10, 1948) was an American lawyer, judge, and the third governor of Oklahoma . Williams played a role in the drafting of the Oklahoma Constitution and served as the first Oklahoma Supreme Court chief justice. He also served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma . As third Governor, Williams oversaw the state's response to the recent United States Supreme Court 's ruling against Jim Crow laws and its involvement in the First World War (1914/1917-1918). He instituted the Oklahoma State Board of Affairs (later reorganized into the current Oklahoma Department of Central Services ) which provided central purchasing services to various state departments, agencies, boards and bureaus. Due to his direct administrative role and concentration of power, Governor Williams counteracted the previous loss of executive power and disagreements with the Oklahoma Legislature under previous second Governor Lee Cruce (1863-1933, served 1911-1915).

Early life and education

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Williams was born on December 20, 1868, near Brundidge , (Pike County ), Alabama . Williams earned a Bachelor of Arts academic degree in 1892 and a Master of Arts degree in 1894, both from the old Southern University, (founded 1856) then located in Greensboro, Alabama . currently still located in Greensboro, Alabama . One degree studied for by young Williams included a study of Methodist (Protestant / Christian ) religious / theological doctrines, entitling him after graduation to become an ordained minister (elder / presbyter / pastor ) in the old Methodist Church , if he so chose. He however also read law and passed the Alabama bar exam in 1891 at the age of 23 and began his practice in Troy , Alabama. At the age of 25, Williams, in 1893, moved west to the Cherokee Outlet section in the Indian Territory following its opening where he briefly practiced law in Orlando . After briefly moving back to Alabama , Williams returned to the Indian Territory shortly afterwards in 1897 and settled in Durant . He became increasingly involved in local politics and a driving force behind the Democratic Party in modern-day eastern Oklahoma in his earlier role as a member (National Committeeman) of the Democratic National Committee , representing the old Indian Territory in the political party's councils.[_citation needed
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Statehood convention delegate

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Selected to represent Durant and the surrounding area at the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention , Williams traveled to Guthrie where he would meet two men that would have profound effects on both his and Oklahoma's future: Charles N. Haskell and William H. Murray .[_citation needed
] Through their labors, Oklahoma's Constitution was established and Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.[citation needed
] On that same day, Haskell was inaugurated as the first Governor of Oklahoma .[citation needed
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Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice

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Through his friendship with Haskell and his own skill as an attorney, Williams was appointed by Haskell to the Oklahoma Supreme Court .[_citation needed
] Once on the Court, Williams was selected to serve as the Court's first chief justice.[citation needed
] He was reappointed that post again in 1908 and would serve in that office until 1914, the only position he would hold on Oklahoma's highest court.[citation needed
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In 1914, before the end of Oklahoma's second governor's term, Governor Lee Cruce , Williams resigned from his position as chief justice in order to place his name in the Democratic primaries for Governor of Oklahoma.[_citation needed
] His fame as Chief Justice easily won him the Democratic nomination.[citation needed
] Williams was fiercely conservative, possessed an assertive personality, and held a high sense of duty.[citation needed
] Williams' Republican opponent was John Fields, the editor of a farm-related newspaper based in Oklahoma City .[[citat

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