MESSES. KELLEY AND SAUNDEES. 105 



came to t!i3 conclusion that the industrial reconstruction of that 

 section would require the mutual aid and cooperation of the 

 whole country. The political Union which had cost so much; 

 which had watered the whole breadth of the land with tears; 

 which the agriculture of the country had got to pay for with so 

 many years of toil, required for its security a social and indus 

 trial union and harmony of interests, only to be reached by a 

 close bond of association. 



Mr. William Saunders, of the Bureau of Agriculture, an in 

 telligent and thoughtful Scotchman, whose extensive corre 

 spondence had made him familiar with the struggles of the 

 farmers in all sections of the country, entered w^armly into the 

 views expressed by Mr. Kelley on his return. Mr. Kelley had 

 proposed, through some organizations like- that of the Free 

 masons, to link the farmers into a solidarity. The originators 

 of the movement were Mr. Kelley, Mr. William Saunders, then 

 and at present Superintendent of the garden and grounds of 

 the Department of Agriculture; Mr. William M. Ireland. Chief 

 Clerk of the Finance office of the Postoffice Department; Mr. 

 John K. Thompson, of the Treasury Department; Rev. Dr. John 

 Trimble, of the Treasury Department, and Eev. A. B. Grosh, 

 of the Department of Agriculture. On the 5th of August, 

 1867, they compiled the first degree of the Order of Patrons of 

 Husbandry. 



Eight days after, Mr. Saunders left Washington for St. 

 Louis, with the purpose of establishing the Order in the West, 

 thus opening the way for the labors of the chief apostle, Mr. 

 Kelley, during the following year. 



The generic name of the Order explains itself, and covers in 

 a general way the requirements for membership. The word 

 &quot; Grange&quot; is pure old English, used by the older as well as 

 recent writers and poets, in the sense of a farm-stead or rural 

 residence, In its symbolical application it means&quot;&quot;tlie hall or 

 place of assembly of Grangers or Patrons of Husbandry, what 

 ever their degree. 



The National Grange was organized at Washington, at the 

 residence of Mr. launders, on the evening of December 4, 

 1867^ by the election of the following officers : Master, William 

 Saunders, of the District of Columbia; Lecturer, J. K. Thomp 

 son, of Yermont; Overseer, Auson Bartlett, of Ohio; Steward, 

 W T illiam Muir, of Pennsylvania; Assistant Steward, A. S. Moss, 



