Grange Movement

The Grangers, formally known as the Patrons of Husbandry, were first organized in 1867 to promote the material and social conditions of farmers through cooperation. The Grange was the first and the largest of many other organizations that promoted the welfare [Page 640]of agricultural workers. In addition, the Grange was the first fraternal organization to admit women with full membership in equality with men.

Oliver Hudson Kelley organized the first degree of the orders of Patrons of Husbandry on August 5, 1867, after a tour of the southern United States awakened him to the plight of farmers. Kelley was a Freemason, and the structure of Grange membership was modeled on the Masons' secret organization. However, there are four, not three, degrees conferred by local granges, the number four appropriately reflecting the seasons. Reaching the fourth degree meant that full membership had been granted in the local grange, and further advancement would take place at collections of granges at the county, state, and national levels. In order to test this organization, the founders established Potomac No. 1 in Washington, D.C., on January 8, 1868. Once the founders had ironed out the features of the organization, this grange became dormant for nearly 20 years, when it was reorganized as a practicing grange like others in the country.

The first dues-paying grange was established in Fredonia, a village in western New York State about 50 miles from Buffalo, on April 16, 1868. A building with an engraved “Grange Hall No. 1” can still be seen at 58 West Main Street. Twenty-one women were initiated on December 16 of that year. Grange No. 1 advocated for the free rural delivery of mail and parcels and the regulation of public utilities, promoted conservation and forestry, sought to secure farm credit and improve highways, and cooperatively purchased farm supplies.

A typical grange would meet in secret each week or month with ritual, music, literature, games, conversation, and refreshments. Local granges used county schoolhouses or village halls as their locations until grange halls were built. They would organize charitable work; educate each other through tracts, pamphlets, and speeches; and promote reading through the sale of books. They would also arrange picnics with nearby granges. Such activities were not trivial, as rural life without commerce or education promoted isolation and illiteracy, especially among wives and daughters.

The Grange as a whole sought legislation to help farmers operate competitively on the market. One of its first efforts was to encourage state legislatures to limit the unfair practices of the railroads. State governors had been eager to help develop railroads, so they had bequeathed public lands and given other privileges without requiring anything in return. Monopolies developed as railroad financers demanded a decrease of competition so that their investments would be without risk. One of the first Grange successes was an Illinois law in May 1873 that set out a schedule of reasonable rates for each railroad for transportation of passengers, freight, or use of track. The law prohibited unjust discrimination in fees or service, and any person wronged could be awarded triple damages with court fees. With this law and others like it, the Grange ensured that farmers would have freedom from control over their access to market so that a farmer could enter the market on equal terms.

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