ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



THE GRANGE. 



ORDER OF RATRONS OF HUSBANDRY 



ITS ORIGIN. 



The Order of the Patrons of Husbandry originated in the mind of 

 O. H. Keliey, a man of JSew England birth, who went to Minnesota 

 in his early manhood, and became a farmer in that section of tlie 

 country. 



In 1864 he was appointed a clerk in the Department of Agriculture 

 at Washington. Two years later, in January, 1866, Mr. Keliey was 

 commissioned by Hon. Isaac Xewton, Commissioner of Agriculture, 

 to visit the Southern States, lately in hostility to the government, for 

 the purpose of obtaining statistical and other information in regard 

 to the condition of the South, and report the same to the Department 

 at Washington. 



It was while traveling in the South in obedience to these instruc- 

 tions, that the thought of a secret society of agriculturists, for the 

 protection and advancement of their interests, and as an element to 

 restore kindly feelings among the people, first occurred to Mr. Keliey. 



The idea of giving women full membership in the proposed Order 

 originated with Miss Carrie A. Hall, of Boston, Mass., a niece of Mr. 

 Keliey, to whom he had imparted his views of the new association 

 after his return from the South. In the full formation of the Order, 

 six other men were directly associated with Mr. Keliey, namely, 

 William Saunders, of the Department of Agriculture, who next to 

 Mr. Keliey, did most in originating the order, Rev. A. B. Grosh, of 

 the same Department, William M. Ireland, of the Postoffice Depart- 

 ment, Rev. John Trimble and J. R. Thompson, of the Treasury De- 

 partment, and F. M. McDowell, a pomologist, of Wayne, N. Y., all 

 of whom, with one exception, were born upon a farm. 



These seven men were the founders of the Order, and for nearly 

 two years Ihey labored with great energy, and with a faith and zeal 

 amounting almost to inspiration, until, with the assistance of friends 

 who became interested in the plan, they completed a well-devised 

 scheme of organization, based upon a ritual of four degrees for men 

 and four for women, which is unsurpassed in the English language 

 for originality of thought, purity of sentiment, and beauty of diction. 



Having formed a constitution to govern the Order to which this 

 litiiiil wns ndoplf'fl. those nu-ii nu't on flu- foiirfli dny of Docetnbcr. 



