{{Short description|American judge}} {{about||the French librarian, historian, and writer|Alfred Franklin (historian)|English neonatologist and paediatrician|Alfred White Franklin}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Alfred Franklin | honorific_suffix = | image = Alfred Morrison Franklin.jpg | caption = Alfred Franklin, {{circa|1913}} | order = | office = Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court | term_start = February 14, 1912 | term_end = January 1, 1915 | term_start2 = January 5, 1917 | term_end2 = November 13, 1918 | nominator = | appointer = | predecessor2 = Edward Kent, Jr. (Territorial Supreme Court) | successor2 = | office3 = Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court | term_start3 = February 14, 1912 | term_end3 = January 5, 1917 | predecessor3 = | successor3 = John Wilson Ross | birth_date = {{birth date|1871|09|30}} | birth_place = Kansas City, Missouri | death_date = Date unknown | death_place = Place unknown | spouse = Cora Brill | party = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = Attorney; jurist; government official | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Alfred Morrison Franklin''' (September 30, 1871 – after 1948) was an American jurist and politician. He was the first chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court and served as a member of Arizona's 1910 constitutional convention.
==Biography== Franklin was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 30, 1871, to Anne (Johnston) and Benjamin Joseph Franklin.{{sfn|Goff|1983|p=34-5}} His early education came in the Kansas City public schools.{{sfn|Goff|1983|p=34}} In 1885, Franklin's father was appointed United States consul to Hankow and the younger Franklin was educated by private tutors while the family lived in China.{{sfn|Goff|1983|p=34-5}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020558/1911-10-28/ed-1/seq-1/;words=Franklin+Alfred|title=Sounds Like Fairy Tale|date=October 28, 1911|work=Arizona Republican|pages=1, 7|location=Phoenix, Arizona}}</ref>
After being admitted to the bar in 1893, Franklin began practicing law in Phoenix, Arizona Territory. He served as Assistant United States Attorney from 1895 to 1897 and during his father's term as Governor of Arizona Territory acted as the senior Franklin's personal secretary.{{sfn|Goff|1983|p=34}} Franklin married Cora Brill in 1901.<ref name="Franklin">{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn95060914/1918-07-26/ed-1/seq-1/;words=Alfred+Franklins+FRANKLIN+ALFRED+Franklin|title=Alfred Franklin|date=July 26, 1918|work=The Graham Guardian|location=Safford, Arizona|page=1}}</ref> The marriage produced two children: Kathleen and Josephine.<ref name="CoraDeath">{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn95060905/1919-07-06/ed-1/seq-1/;words=Franklin+Alfred|title=Mrs. Judge Franklin Dies at St. Joseph's|date=July 6, 1919|work=Tombstone Epitaph}}</ref>
For Arizona's 1910 constitutional convention, Franklin was elected to represent Maricopa County.{{sfn|Wagoner|1970|p=462}} He was a member of the Committee on Style, Revision, and Compilation, which determined the final wording of the constitution.{{sfn|Wagoner|1970|p=470}} His political positions were those of a moderate progressive.{{sfn|Goff|1983|p=34}} During the convention he proposed including provisions supporting women's suffrage and prohibition in the document.<ref name="Franklin"/> The prohibition proposition was voted down 33 to 15.{{sfn|Wagoner|1970|p=472}} The women's suffrage proposal was likewise defeated.<ref name="Franklin"/>
As statehood approached, Franklin was elected to the Arizona Supreme Court and became the first chief justice.{{sfn|Goff|1983|p=34}} He served a total of three terms on the bench, the first and third as chief justice while Henry D. Ross was chief justice during Franklin's second term.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn95060914/1917-01-05/ed-1/seq-1/;words=Franklin+Alfred|title=Alfred Franklin Now Chief Justice|date=January 5, 1917|work=The Graham Guardian|location=Safford, Arizona|page=1}}</ref> He was defeated in the 1918 primary by Albert C. Baker with a vote of 14,419 to 12,275.{{sfn|Goff|1975|p=140}} The loss was attributed to voter discontent over the Arizona Supreme Court's ruling involving the disputed 1916 election results between Governor George W. P. Hunt and challenger Thomas E. Campbell.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85032923/1918-09-25/ed-1/seq-3/;words=Franklin+Alfred|title=Democrats in Turmoil Over Colter Case|date=September 25, 1918|work=Weekly Journal-Miner|location=Prescott, Arizona}}</ref> Franklin was named Collector of Internal Revenue for the Arizona-New Mexico District on October 24, 1918, and resigned his position on the bench shortly thereafter.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88084272/1918-10-24/ed-1/seq-8/;words=Franklin+Alfred|title=Alfred Franklin Named Collector of U.S. Revenue|date=October 24, 1918|work=El Paso Herald|page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024827/1918-11-02/ed-1/seq-6/;words=Franklin+Alfred|title=Baker Gives Legal Business as His Reason|date=November 2, 1918|work=Bisbee Daily Review|page=6}}</ref> He held the position until February 7, 1922.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn95060905/1922-02-12/ed-1/seq-7/;words=Franklin+Alfred|title=F. R. Stewart Takes Over Office Today|date=February 12, 1922|work=Tombstone Epitaph|page=7}}</ref>
Franklin's wife died from the Spanish flu on July 4, 1919.{{sfn|Goff|1983|p=34}}<ref name="CoraDeath"/> Franklin had an introverted personality and began withdrawing from society after her death. He eventually left his home and went to live alone in the desert.{{sfn|Goff|1983|p=34}} His last contact with his family occurred in 1938, but he is known to have lived for at least another decade.{{sfn|Goff|1983|p=34}} The date and place of Franklin's death are unknown.{{sfn|Goff|1983|p=34}}
==References== {{reflist|30em}} {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Goff |first=John S. |title=Arizona Territorial Officials Volume I: The Supreme Court Justices 1863-1912 |publisher=Black Mountain Press|location=Cave Creek, Arizona |year=1975 | oclc = 1622668 }} * {{Cite book | last = Goff| first = John S. | chapter = Franklin, Alfred Morrison | title = Arizona Biographical Dictionary | publisher=Black Mountain Press | year =1983 | location = Cave Creek, AZ | oclc = 10740532|author-mask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Wagoner |first=Jay J. |title=Arizona Territory 1863-1912: A Political history |publisher=University of Arizona Press |location=Tucson |year=1970 |isbn=0-8165-0176-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/arizonaterritory00wago }} {{refend}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Alfred Morrison}} Category:Lawyers from Kansas City, Missouri Category:Justices of the Arizona Supreme Court Category:1871 births Category:Year of death unknown Category:Chief justices of the Arizona Supreme Court Category:Politicians from Kansas City, Missouri Category:Activists from Missouri