He is a Buckeye by birth and education, being a native of Chester, Meigs County, Ohio, where he was born March 2, 1835. His ancestors were among the early settlers of Ohio, his grandfather, Rev. Eli Stedman, having removed there soon after the organization of that state. On his mother's side he is a direct descendant of General Yates of Revolutionary fame. The rudiments of his education were received at district and select schools, which he regularly attended until he was fifteen, when he commenced a regular course of study at Marietta College, but on account of the death of his mother and some unfortunate business matters, he was compelled to abandon it in order to earn means for his own support and further education. He afterwards attended the Ohio University at Athens, where he remained until the close of the Fall term of 1854, where he secured a school, and taught one term, closing in March 1855. Immediately after closing his school he removed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he remained variously employed until the Fall of 1856, when he came to Vinton and secured a clerkship with Olmsted A. Vanhorn, with whom he remained some four years, when the firm failed and he was employed by the assignee to close out the business. In March, 1860, he bought a small stock of groceries and commenced business for himself, with a cash capital of $250. By working hard and attending close to business, he has succeeded far beyond his expectation. Having been so long a resident of Benton County, and by his fair dealing and close attention to business, he secured a large circle of friends and acquaintances, he was urged in the Summer of 1871 to become a candidate for Representative upon the Republican ticket, and was nominated and elected by the popular vote and represented his county in the House of Representatives of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth General Assembly of Iowa. Upon taking his seat in the House, he conducted himself in such a manner as to receive the warmest commendations from the leading members of that body; secured without a dissenting voice an appropriation of $70,000 for the enlargement of the Iowa College for the Blind, situated at Vinton. Mr. Stedman has been married twice; first, December 15, 1859, to Miss Eva A. Hoke, who died in August, 1864, leaving one son. He was again married December 25, 1865, to Mrs. Julia McLaughlin, a resident of Meigs County, Ohio.

He is a Buckeye by birth and education, being a native of Chester, Meigs County, Ohio, where he was born March 2, 1835. His ancestors were among the early settlers of Ohio, his grandfather, Rev. Eli Stedman, having removed there soon after the organization of that state. On his mother's side he is a direct descendant of General Yates of Revolutionary fame. The rudiments of his education were received at district and select schools, which he regularly attended until he was fifteen, when he commenced a regular course of study at Marietta College, but on account of the death of his mother and some unfortunate business matters, he was compelled to abandon it in order to earn means for his own support and further education. He afterwards attended the Ohio University at Athens, where he remained until the close of the Fall term of 1854, where he secured a school, and taught one term, closing in March 1855. Immediately after closing his school he removed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he remained variously employed until the Fall of 1856, when he came to Vinton and secured a clerkship with Olmsted A. Vanhorn, with whom he remained some four years, when the firm failed and he was employed by the assignee to close out the business. In March, 1860, he bought a small stock of groceries and commenced business for himself, with a cash capital of $250. By working hard and attending close to business, he has succeeded far beyond his expectation. Having been so long a resident of Benton County, and by his fair dealing and close attention to business, he secured a large circle of friends and acquaintances, he was urged in the Summer of 1871 to become a candidate for Representative upon the Republican ticket, and was nominated and elected by the popular vote and represented his county in the House of Representatives of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth General Assembly of Iowa. Upon taking his seat in the House, he conducted himself in such a manner as to receive the warmest commendations from the leading members of that body; secured without a dissenting voice an appropriation of $70,000 for the enlargement of the Iowa College for the Blind, situated at Vinton. Mr. Stedman has been married twice; first, December 15, 1859, to Miss Eva A. Hoke, who died in August, 1864, leaving one son. He was again married December 25, 1865, to Mrs. Julia McLaughlin, a resident of Meigs County, Ohio.