Washington State Grange

Today's Grange is an organization with solid, time-tested roots. The current strength and effectiveness of the Grange is a logical outgrowth of more than 130 years of unified action. It is one of the nation's oldest and most respected groups.

The Grange, formally known as the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry, was the life-long dream of a pioneer Minnesota farmer, Oliver Hudson Kelley. Besides working on his farm, Kelley was a part-time clerk in the Commissioner of Agriculture's office in Washington, D.C. Prior to the

O.H. Kelley's farm near Elk River, Minn., is now a living history farm, operated by the Minnesota Historical Society.

American Civil War he had successfully organized farmers in his community for some cooperative buying and selling projects.

Immediately after the Civil War, Kelley was sent by the commissioner of agriculture on a tour through southern states to determine the level of help needed by farmers in war-devastated areas.

Later, Kelley told the story of how he, as a former New Englander, was refused admittance by a southern farmer because he was a hated "northerner." However, that same farmer recanted and provided Kelley hospitality after he learned they were fellow Masons.

That chance conversation guided Kelley's hopes for a national farm organization toward a fraternal structure. It was his conviction that during the Reconstruction period a group that emphasized fraternal brotherhood and good will would do the most to heal the breach between North and South by uniting all farmers in a common goal of improving their own lives, as well as agriculture's lot.

Upon his return to Washington, D.C., Kelley assembled a small nucleus of griends to help him design and organize the Patrons of Husbandry - the Grange. The National Grange was officially organized Dec. 4, 1867, in a formal session of some of the Grange's so-called "seven founders." The meeting was held in the office of William Saunders, who was an authority on horticultural matters and superindendant of the capital gardends and grounds for the Bureau of Agriculture. Saunders also designed the layout for the Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania. At that first meeting, Saunders was elected national master and Kelley was chosen secretary.

Over the past 13 decades the Grange has enjoyed numerous accomplishments. There have been years of explosive growth and some years of decline. But throughout its history the organization has stood for the American farmer and his rural neighbors, fighting for conditions and policies that would benefit this large group of people.

National Grange Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Because of it's life-long commitment to boosting the standar of living for farmers and other rural residents, the Grange has often been the champion for better roads, schools and services by utilities in rural areas. There have been countless instances where the Grange on the state and national levels has entered public debate on numerous issues of importance to many Americans, both rural and urban alike. The Grange has fought for fair and equitable taxation, protection for consumers and producers, even-handed tradae laws, honest efforts to develop rural America, and enhancement of provisions that foster positive ethical, social and moral conditions.

The National Grange has its own headquarters in Washington, D.C., the only non-governmental structure in an area of several blocks near the White House. Over the years, the Washington State Grange has had several from its ranks assume offices of importance in the National Grange.