16 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O. 



and in the Dominion Parliament. But with 

 the development of other interests and the relative 

 decline of agriculture the situation changed, 

 and farmers commenced to realize the need of an 

 organization through which they could express 

 their views on public matters. 



The formation of the Grange was the result 

 of this general feeling. It originated in the 

 United States, and its introduction into Ontario 

 seven years later came by way of the United 

 States. The origin of the Grange across the 

 line was found in causes arising out of the 

 American Civil War. The war had created 

 bitter antagonisms, not only between the North 

 and South, but between factions in the two 

 sections. The main purpose that Mr. Kelly,* 

 the father of the American Grange, had in view 

 was to create an organization that would break 

 down these antagonisms and restore harmony 

 in a country tern by four years of civil strife. 



In Ontario, the Grange was from the first a 



*Mr. Kelly was a clerk in the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the time he 

 organized the first American Grange. There were six other men associated with 

 him, all officers in the employ of the Government, and one Vineyardist of Wayne 

 County, N.Y. Two of the seven, schooled in Masonry, and one a prominent Odd- 

 fellow, framed the Grange ritual, a beautiful composition, rich in imagery. The 

 first meeting of the United States National Grange, held in 1867, consisted of 

 Worthy Master Saunders and Secretary Kelly, these two persons only. Before 

 his audience of one the Master delivered his address which was duly published 

 next day in the press. The first subordinate Grange was organized at Harrisburg, 

 Pa., and the first State Grange in Minnesota. It was not until 1873 that the 

 American Grange really began to make progress. In that year 8,668 subordinate 

 Granges were organized, and in the year following 11,941. With this there came 

 a rush from all quarters to join up, and in one case a Grange was organized in 

 Broadway, New York, with 45 members, representing a capital of as many millions, 

 and composed of prominent bankers, wholesalers, etc. At one time the Grange 

 held fraternal relations with English Co-operative Societies and a few Granges 

 were organized in England. 



