William H. Murray | |
|---|---|
 Murray, c. 1930s | |
| 9th Governor of Oklahoma | |
| In office January 12, 1931 – January 15, 1935 | |
| Lieutenant | Robert Burns |
| Preceded by | William J. Holloway |
| Succeeded by | Ernest W. Marland |
| Proprietor of the Aguairenda Colony, Bolivia | |
| In office 1923 – August 6, 1928 | |
| President | Bautista Saavedra Felipe Segundo Guzmán Hernando Siles |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Colony charter revoked |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma | |
| In office March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1917 | |
| Preceded by | District created |
| Succeeded by | Tom McKeown |
| Constituency | At-large (1913–1915) 4th district (1915–1917) |
| 1st Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives | |
| In office 1907–1909 | |
| Governor | Charles N. Haskell |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Ben Wilson |
| Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from the Johnston County district | |
| In office 1907–1909 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | J. M. Ratliff |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Henry Davis Murray November 21, 1869 Collinsville, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | October 15, 1956 (aged 86) Tishomingo, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Resting place | Tishomingo City Cemetery 34°13′38.6″N 96°40′43.3″W / 34.227389°N 96.678694°W |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Mary Alice Hearrell Murray |
| Children | 5, including Johnston Murray |
| Parents |
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| Profession | Teacher, lawyer |
William Henry Davis "Alfalfa Bill" Murray (November 21, 1869 – October 15, 1956) was an American educator, lawyer, and politician who served as the first Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, a U.S. Congressman from Oklahoma, and as the 9th Governor of Oklahoma. He was a Southern Democratic member of the Democratic Party who opposed the New Deal and supported racial segregation.
Murray started his political career with several failed runs for political office in his home state of Texas before moving to Indian Territory where he married Mary Alice Hearrell Murray, the niece of Chickasaw Nation Governor Douglas H. Johnston. Although not American Indian, he was appointed by Johnston as the Chickasaw delegate to the 1905 Convention for the proposed State of Sequoyah and later he was elected as a delegate to the 1906 Oklahoma Constitutional Convention for the proposed state of Oklahoma. He served as the president of both constitutional conventions.
Murray was elected as a representative and the first Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives after statehood. He also was elected as U.S. Representative (D-Oklahoma), serving between 1913 and 1917.
In the 1920s, he traveled South America attempting to start a colony. He eventually negotiated a contract for a colony with the Bolivian government under President Bautista Saavedra in 1922, but the colony, Aguairenda, was largely unsuccessful. President Hernando Siles eventually cancelled the colony's lease in 1928 after it failed to become profitable and Murray returned to Oklahoma.
After returning to Oklahoma, he was elected the ninth governor of Oklahoma, serving from 1931 to 1935. During his tenure as governor in years of the Great Depression, he established a record for the number of times he used the National Guard to perform duties in the state and for declaring martial law at a time of unrest.
In his later life, Murray published a three-volume memoir and several books which contained racist and antisemitic claims. Historian Reinhard H. Luthin described his populist campaign tactics and rhetoric as demagoguery. His son, Johnston Murray, was later elected Governor of Oklahoma.