46 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT 



His correspondence with A. Failor, of Newton, Iowa, resulted 

 in the formation of a grange in that place, the first in the state, 

 and on May 2, 1868, the fifteen dollars for its dispensation 

 was received. At intervals in his farm work, Kelley endeavored 

 to keep the order before the public during the summer by letters 

 in leading agricultural papers such as the Prairie Farmer of 

 Chicago, the Farmers' Union of Minneapolis, and the Rural 

 World of St. Louis. He also induced various papers to print 

 the constitution of the order and such notices concerning it as 

 he was able to manufacture. 



Finally in August, 1868, Colonel D. A. Robertson of St. Paul 

 was enlisted in the work, and on September 2, North Star Grange, 

 the first permanent grange in Minnesota, was organized at St. 

 Paul with his assistance. Robertson and the other members of 

 this grange took an immediate and active interest in the propa- 

 gation of the order. The circulars were revised 1 and emphasis 

 was laid upon such features as protection against corporations, 

 the advantages of crop and market statistics, depots for the 

 sale of produce, and concerted action in the purchase of stock 

 and the testing of new farm implements. The new energy 

 thus manifested in the work soon brought results and two more 

 active granges were organized before the end of the year. These 

 were followed by three more in January, 1869, and three in 

 February; and on February 23, representatives of these sub- 

 ordinate granges met in St. Paul and organized the Minnesota 

 State Grange. 2 Within two months after its organization, 

 the Minnesota State Grange, without the sanction of the National 

 Grange, appointed a state purchasing agent for the cooperative 

 purchase of supplies and agricultural implements for Patrons; 

 thus taking the first step in what was to become one of the most 

 important activities of the order. This seems to have had much 

 influence on the movement in Minnesota, and by the close of 

 the year 1869 there were thirty-seven active granges in the 



1 This revised circular is reprinted in Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 125-130; 

 extracts in Minnesota Monthly, i. 255 (August, 1869) and National Grange, Pro- 

 ceedings, xiv. ii (1880). 



2 Minnesota Monthly, i. 97 (March, 1869). 



