William D. Jelks Politician

William Dorsey Jelks (November 7, 1855 – December 13, 1931) was an American Democratic politician who was the 32nd Governor of Alabama from 1901 to 1907; he had been a newspaper publisher and editor. He also served as acting governor between December 1 and December 26, 1900 when governor William J. Samford was out-of-state seeking medical treatment (Alabama law at the time required the governor to relinquish authority of the office if he left the state for any reason for more than 20 days). When Samford died on June 11, 1901, Jelks became governor. In 1904, Jelks fell ill and left the state for treatment; Russell Cunningham acted as governor in Jelk's absence from April 25, 1904 to March 5, 1905.