Biography

John Walter Coverdale was born in Clinton County, Iowa, in 1883. He attended Delmar High School and in 1906, graduated from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He began his career as a farmer and then became a county agent. In 1917, the first efforts to federate farm bureaus in Iowa took place under the leadership of Coverdale. A temporary committee was formed and on December 27, 1918, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation was founded. Coverdale became the organization's first secretary and wrote its constitution. The American Farm Bureau Federation was founded the following year and John W. Coverdale became its first secretary. In the early 1920s, he was secretary, treasurer, and director of organization form the AFBF. In 1925, Coverdale returned to private business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Seven years later, he went to work at Rath Packing Company as manager of the feed and fertilizer department. In 1945, he became the director of Rath's agricultural bureau. Upon retirement, he managed a 340 acre farm.

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