John Ridgway Comley - Founder of the Bedford Grange #283 of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. The grange is an organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and agriculture.
School period
College/University
Career
Gallery of John Comley
1916
Massachusetts
John Ridgway Comley - Deputy Secretary of Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture
Gallery of John Comley
1925
Bedford, Massachusetts
Postcard of the J.R. Comley Florist and Landscape Gardens and Greenhouses in Bedford, Massachusetts
Gallery of John Comley
1929
Bedford, Massachusetts
J.R. Comley Florist and Landscape decorated for the Bedford Massachusetts Bicentennial Celebration in 1929 - the company used the Society of American Florists - FTD Florists’ Telegraph Delivery Association slogan – "Say It With Flowers"
J.R. Comley Florist and Landscape decorated for the Bedford Massachusetts Bicentennial Celebration in 1929 - the company used the Society of American Florists - FTD Florists’ Telegraph Delivery Association slogan – "Say It With Flowers"
John Ridgway Comley was an Elected Official and held several appointed positions in the Town of Bedford, Massachusetts. He founded the Bedford Grange #283 in 1909 and served on the national, state and local levels of The Grange for over 30 years. He was the proprietor of J. R. Comley Florists & Landscape in Bedford, MA., established in 1893.
Background
On February 27, 1869 John Ridgway Comley was born in Lexington, Massachusetts to James Henry Comley and Harriet Ridgway Comley.
1887 John Ridgway Comley graduated from Lexington High School
1887 to 1893 John Ridgway Comley worked at Towle Manufacturing Co., in Newburyport, Massachusetts as a silversmith and engraver
1893 He married Maude Stiles and moved to Bedford. He and Maude had four children, Ruth, Mabel, Ethel and John Ridgway, Jr.
1893 - Founded J. R. Comley Florist and Landscape Gardener
1909 Founded The Bedford Grange #283 and was the second Master. He held various offices in the Grange during his lifetime. One or more Comleys have held office in the Bedford Grange every year since it was organized.
1915 Brother Comley was Master of Middlesex Central Pomona Grange.
1917 to 1931 Deputy of the Massachusetts State Grange appointed by Brother Chapman Master of the Massachusetts State Grange
1911 to 1915 Chairman of the Bedford Grange Fair
1915 - 1918 Elected Selectman and Registrar of voters, Town of Bedford, Massachusetts
1910 - 1931 Sealer of Weights and Measures, 1910-1931 ; Town of Bedford, Massachusetts
1923 - 1929 Town of Bedford, Massachusetts Road Commissioner
1924 to 1926 John R. Comley is Elected Director of Middlesex County Bureau of Agriculture; State of Massachusetts
June 24, 1931 - died
In November 1931 a Memorial Endowment from the Massachusetts State Grange was given to the Arthritis Research Fund in honor of the lifetime service of John Ridgway Comley
Education
Graduated from Lexington High School in 1887
Career
John Ridgway Comley was an Elected Official and held several appointed positions for the Town of Bedford, Massachusetts from 1895 until in death in 1931.
John Ridgway Comley was the Proprietor of J.R. Comley Florist and Landscape Gardeners, a floral and landscape design company established in 1893
John Ridgway Comley worked from 1887 to 1893 at Towle Manufacturing Co., in Newburyport, Massachusetts as a silversmith and engraver
In 1893, John Ridgway Comley married Maude Stiles and moved to Bedford. He and Maude had four children, Ruth, Mabel, Ethel and John Ridgway, Jr.
Maude Comley, also, known as Ethel Maude Stiles Comley was a Daughter of the American Revolution as a Descendant of Caleb Stiles. Caleb Stiles enlisted under Captain Nicholas Gilman's company, Colonel Moses Nichols' 5th regiment of militia in 1779:
I. Caleb Stiles (1737-1834) married Mary (aka Elizabeth) Townsend.
2. Samuel Stiles (1769-1854) married Susan Pierce (b. 1772).
3. William Riley Stiles (1814-1882) married 1835 Emily Tice (1814-1904).
4. Wilbur Allen Stiles (1841-1909) married 1867 Laura E. Burns (b. 1842). - daughter Ethel Maude Stiles
Town Of Bedford Annual Report 1914
ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE " OFFICERS OP THE TOWN OF BEDFORD FOR THE Financial Year ' Ending January 1~ 1914 page 5 Report of Sealer- of Weights and Measures, John R. Comley
Annual Reports of the Town of Bedford 1923
John R. Comley is Appointed by the Town of Bedford Board of Selectman to The Cemetery Committee as Superintendent of Cemeteries for the term 1924 to 1925 - page 5