Betty Dunn Smedley

SMEDLEY, BETTY DUNN (1888~1985) Betty Dunn "Nona" Smedley, wife of Graham Smedley, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, was born on December 8, 1888, in Mississippi to Ferdinand Augustus and Lula Elizabeth (East) Dunn. Upon moving to Texas, Miss Dunn married Graham Smedley, a successful oil and gas attorney, on December 25, 1907.

Following their marriage, the Smedleys lived in Midland until 1913, when they moved to Austin because of Smedley's appointment as Assistant Attorney General, under Ben F. Looney. After Looney's term in office ended, the Smedleys stayed in Austin until 1925, when they moved to Wichita Falls and later Fort Worth. They returned to Austin in 1933, when Smedley was appointed as a Commissioner to the Supreme Court by Governor Miriam Ferguson. When a Constitutional Amendment changed the structure of the Supreme Court from three to nine justices, Smedley was automatically elevated to Associate Justice.

Her husband's position afforded Mrs. Smedley numerous opportunities to become involved in civic activities. She was a member of the Texas State Garden Club, from which she won a blue ribbon for her Camellias, the Austin Lawyer's Wives Club, The State and National Historical Society, Texas Official's Ladies Club, and Texas Federated Club. She was also a member of the University Methodist Church.

After her husband's death in 1954, she turned to her interests in books and reading and created a rare bookstore in her home. She maintained her business for many years, retiring only a short time before her death on August 14, 1985, four months before her 97th birthday. She was buried next to her husband in the Texas State Cemetery three days later.

Information taken from obituary, Austin American-Statesman, Friday, August 16, 1985, and "Mrs. Graham B. Smedley, Camellia Enthusiast, Always Ready To Aid New Growers," Austin American-Statesman, May 11, 1947.