BIOGRAPHY: Smedley, A. B.
From the A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875

*************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
*************************************************

     COLONEL A. B. SMEDLEY,  the present Master of the State Grange of 
Iowa, was born in Jefferson County, New York in 1825.  His boyhood was 
passed in the practical work of the farm.  In 1849 he removed to 
Wisconsin, where he resided until 1862, when he entered the service of 
his country, serving with distinction until the close of the war.
     In 1868 he removed to Cresco, Iowa, where he now resides.   He is 
actively engaged in Agriculture and horticulture, giving particular 
attention to the culture of fruit. 
     But it is in his connection with the Order of Patrons of Husbandry 
that Colonel Smedley has been brought most prominently before the 
people. Always taking a deep interest in agricultural pursuits and all 
that pertained to the interests of the industrial classes, he was among 
the first to enroll himself as a member of the Order; and rapidly rose 
to the highest position in the State Grange, being elected Master at 
its third annual session. Colonel Smedley is said to have given the 
unwritten work and the laws and usages of the Order of Patrons of 
Husbandry more careful study than perhaps any other person in the 
country. He has written two volumes on the subject of the Jurisprudence 
of the Order, copies of which have circulated in every state and nearly 
every county of the Union.