282 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT 



Grange the market gardener and horticulturist of the eastern 

 states, the tobacco and cotton planters of the South, the corn 

 grower of the Middle West, and the wheat raiser of the farther 

 West met and exchanged ideas. These meetings occurred only 

 once a year; but they sometimes lasted ten or twelve days, 

 and the members were the chosen leaders of the agriculturists 

 in their respective states. Here men who had recently been in 

 Confederate armies met men who had fought to save the Union. 

 They met now, not as enemies but as brothers in a great fraternal 

 order with the common purpose of uplifting the American farmer. 

 What better institution could be devised for the eradication of 

 sectional prejudice ? 



At the close of the seventh session of the National Grange in 

 St. Louis, in February, 1874, an incident occurred which is 

 illustrative of this influence. Worthy Master Wardlaw of the 

 state grange of Florida delivered an address in which he alluded 

 to the fact that at the Democratic convention of 1860 in Charles- 

 ton it had fallen to his lot to pronounce a eulogy upon ex- Gover- 

 nor Robinson of Vermont, a member who had suddenly been 

 stricken with death. Wardlaw then added that if the repre- 

 sentative of the Grange in Vermont were present he would like 

 to clasp hands with him in token of good will and amity. E. P. 

 Colton, the master of the Vermont State Grange, stepped for- 

 ward and the two clasped hands amidst prolonged and enthusi- 

 astic cheering. 1 The next session of the National Grange, in 

 February, 1875, was held in Charleston and was probably the 

 first national convention of importance held in the southern 

 states since the war. The good will and hospitality exhibited 

 by the southern Patrons on this occasion must have been a 

 revelation to many of the northern delegates. 2 When churches 

 refused to reunite, the Grange was probably one of the most 



1 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 112 (February, 1875); Rural Carolinian, 

 v. 370 (April, 1874); Ellis, in Ohio Farmer, c. 391 (November 21, 1901). 



2 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. 109-126, especially 121-122, ix. 203. A 

 Grange committee in Illinois is said to have invited Jefferson Davis to deliver an 

 address at a local fair. Nation, xxi. 109 (August 19, 1875). On this general sub- 

 ject, see also Kelley, Patrons of Husbandry, 378; National Grange, Proceedings, x. 

 19 (1876). 



