after much deliberation over who would serve as speaker of the oklahoma house of representatives, the democratic caucus chose william h. murray of tishomingo, oklahoma, a former chickasaw nation representative and the president of the state constitutional convention. sworn into office on november 16, 1907, murray pushed for legislation to curb business excesses and support agriculture during his single term as speaker. state representative a. h. ellis, of garfield county, oklahoma, was elected by his peers to serve as speaker pro tempore.