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He was born on March 17, 1828 in Vassalboro, Maine, United States, the son of Daniel and Phebe (Howland) Smiley. From his early boyhood on his father's farm his life was closely linked with that of his twin brother, Alfred Homans Smiley (died January 25, 1903). In their infancy the resemblance between the two was so strong that even their mother found it difficult to distinguish them, and they retained a striking similarity of feature throughout their lives.
After attending a local academy the brothers went to Haverford College, where in 1849 they constituted the graduating class.
He and his brother remained at Haverford as instructors in English and mathematics until 1853, when they established an English and classical academy in Philadelphia. After four years in this school Albert K. Smiley returned to Maine to serve as principal of the Oak Grove Seminary near his birthplace. In 1860 he went to Friends' School in Providence, and as teacher and principal remained until 1879.
In 1869, while Smiley was teaching in Providence, he bought a tract of land on Lake Mohonk in Ulster County, New York. He made over an old inn on the tract and in 1870 it was opened to guests under the management of his brother. Smiley continued to teach, in order to pay for the property, until 1879, when he left Providence to devote himself to the hotel project, taking pride, especially, in developing the natural scenery about the establishment.
In 1879 Smiley was appointed to the Board of Indian Commissioners by President Hayes. He remained a member of the board until his death. He entered seriously into the work of the commissioners and served on various special committees within the organization.
In the fall of 1883, in an effort to bring together groups and individuals concerned with Indian problems, he invited legislators, administrators, and persons interested in the welfare of the American Indians to attend a conference at Lake Mohonk. The meetings thus begun, known first as the Lake Mohonk Conferences of Friends of the Indian, were held annually, and the scope of the discussions in time widened to include the negro and inhabitants of the dependencies of the United States. Annual reports of the meetings were published from 1883 to 1913.
Smiley also identified himself with the movement for world peace and in the spring of 1895 instituted another series of discussions, similar in organization to the Indian conferences, known as the Lake Mohonk Conferences on International Arbitration. The meetings were held annually, and reports of the proceedings were published.
He served as a trustee of Brown University, Bryn Mawr College, and Pomona College, and at the time of his death was president of the board of trustees of the New York State Normal School at New Paltz.
He died at his California home at the age of eighty-four.
Albert Keith Smiley organized famous conference Lake Mohonk Conferences of Friends of the Indian, where the themes of negro and inhabitants of the dependencies of the United States were discussed for the first time. He also organized Lake Mohonk Conferences on International Arbitration. He was chairman of a commission delegated to select reservations for the Mission Indians of California. Albert K. Smiley Library, named for its donor, and a park adjoining the library property, were gifts of permanent value to Redlands. After the death of the brothers the little city began to celebrate Smiley Day, March 17, in affectionate remembrance of the two.
On July 8, 1857, at a Friends' meeting-house in New York City, he married Eliza Phelps Cornell. A few years after their marriage they were greatly saddened by the death of their only child.
