158:, November 28, 1834. Her parents were Elon Smeed (b. 1812) and Katherine (Lockrin) Smeed (b. 1813). Each of them was the oldest child of their respective families. Both lost their fathers at an early age. Industrious, energetic and self-reliant in a remarkable degree, a clear sense of right with an almost morbid conscientiousness characterized both. All those traits were markedly developed in their daughter, who, too, was the oldest child. Anna's siblings were Caroline, Sarah, and Albert.
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A convincing speaker and a skilled parliamentarian, Benjamin became one of the leaders in State and national WCTU work. She was elected president of the WCTU for the fifth district of
Michigan for thirteen consecutive years, and built up temperance interests in the "Bay View Assembly", until that
197:, in 1874, she was made chair of a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws for the newly organized Woman's Christian Temperance Union of the Fifth Congressional District, later becoming president of that body, and continuing in office for 35 years.
138:(WCTU). In this role, she issued a series of "Parliamentary Studies". The drills which she conducted in WCTU "School of Methods" and elsewhere were popular and well attended by both men and women. For ten years, she served as president of the
193:. In that community, her abilities at once marked her as a leader. Suffering from a morbid shyness since childhood, she sought to work in obscurity, but circumstances pushed her to the platform. At the convention held in
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She became the superintendent of the national department of parliamentary usage, and the drills which she conducted in the WCTU's "School of
Methods". They were also attended by hundreds of men and women at the
134:, she joined the temperance cause, becoming one of its best known orators. A skilled parliamentarian, in 1887, she was elected National Superintendent of the department of parliamentary uses in the
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Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life
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In 1855, she married George W. Benjamin (1828-1894), a business man. They had one child, a son, Glen (1868-1928).
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summer camp became a model for others. For ten years, she served as president of the
Michigan state WCTU.
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126:; November 28, 1834 – June 1, 1924) was an American social reformer and activist involved in the
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History of the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan: With an
Appendix--History of Lowell, Michigan
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Anna Smeed
Benjamin died at Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 1, 1924.
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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Presidents of the Woman's
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263:(1893). "BENJAMIN, Mrs. Anna Smeed".
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