MINNESOTA STATE GRANGE:

Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley and six associates established the National Grange (Order of the Patrons of Husbandry) in Washington, D.C., in 1867. Conceived as a social and educational organization for farmers, it was also involved in cooperation and politics. It described itself as a force for social betterment and as a spokesman for public affairs for the people of rural America.

The Grange is a secret and ritualistic fraternal society of farmers and others interested in agriculture. It is divided into a hierarchical structure of subordinate (local lodges), pomona (county or district bodies), state, and national organizations.

The first subordinate grange in Minnesota was established in 1868 at St. Paul. The Minnesota State Grange, the first state grange to be established in the United States, was organized in St. Paul in 1869 (a minimum of 15 subordinate granges were required before a state grange could be formed). Minnesota's first pomona grange was established in Mower County in 1912. By 1962 a total of 827 subordinate and 15 pomona lodges (not all then active) had been established in the state. In 1992 there were 9 active subordinate and 5 active pomona granges in Minnesota.

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Correspondence, subject files, and some financial records of the Minnesota State Grange. There are also some miscellaneous records of or relating to several subordinate grange lodges, including quarterly reports prepared by subordinate and pomona granges. Much of the material was found at the Oliver H. Kelley Farmstead near Elk River, Minnesota after its acquisition in the early 1960s by the Minnesota Historical Society.

The collection includes pamphlets and other printed material; constitutions and bylaws; a minute book (1924, 1926-1928) and a folder of miscellaneous minutes; executive committee proceedings (1883-1901); rosters (1933-1964); a few clippings; some song sheets and a grange song book (1964); and a file of historical and background information. There is information about the National Grange organization, and about Minnesota subordinate, juvenile, and pomona grange lodges.

A charter certificate (1874) for Big Lake Grange No. 477 (Sherburne County, Minn.) is filed as +84.

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These records are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota State Grange Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 5225; 9388; 9816; 10,753; 11,782; 13,633; 14,266; 14,679; 14,688; 15,453; 17,137

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 990017302450104294

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Reports (1909-circa 1933) submitted by secretaries of subordinate and pomona granges, which contain membership data and financial information (dues, initiation fees) on four pomona and more than seventy subordinate lodges in Minnesota.

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Consult the catalog for the locations of other Grange-related materials, which are found in a variety of formats in various Minnesota Historical Society collections.

Additional information about the Kelley Farmstead may be found in the Historic Sites Files of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) at the Minnesota Historical Society.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Agriculture -- Minnesota.

Cooperative societies -- Minnesota.

Farmers -- Minnesota -- Political activity.

Fraternal organizations -- Minnesota.

Historic farms -- Minnesota.

Places:

Kelley, Oliver H., Farmstead (Elk River, Minn.).

Persons:

Adams, Augusta J.

Archer, Frank A. (Frank Adelbert), 1890-1966.

Archer, Hildur S. (Hildur Swenson), 1888-1966.

Baird, Sarah G., 1843-1923.

Battles, Roy.

Eckert, Eugene A.

Goss, Albert S., 1882-1950.

Hofman, Eunice.

Kelley, Oliver H. (Oliver Hudson), 1826-1913.

Newsom, Herschel D., 1905-1970.

Pearson, William B., 1897-1987.

Organizations:

Big Lake Grange No. 477 (Sherburne County, Minn.).

Bloomington Grange No. 482 (Bloomington, Minn.).

Cedar River Grange No. 274 (Mower County, Minn.).

Constance Grange No. 682 (Anoka County, Minn.).

Crescent Grange 512 (Anoka County, Minn.).

Halcyon Grange No. 38 (Goodhue County, Minn.).

Isle Grange No. 665 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.).

Mille Lacs County Pomona Grange No. 5 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.).

Minnehaha Grange No. 398 (Edina, Minn.).

National Grange.

Onamia Grange No. 664 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.).

Sunbeam Grange (Elk River, Minn.).

Union Grange No. 659 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.).

Types of Documentation:

Charters.

Song books.

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