THE GRANGE. 233 



Newton, the then Commissioner of Agriculture. Kelley went 

 as far south as Charleston, South Carolina ; thence to Savannah, 

 Mobile, New Orleans, up the Mississippi to Memphis, across 

 the country to Atlanta, and back again to Washington City, by 

 the 2ist day of April following. 



Impressed with the disorganization of that peculiarly agri- 

 cultural section, and grieved at the utter demoralization of its 

 people, whom he found to be intelligent and trustworthy, Mr. 

 Kelley conceived the idea that organization was necessary for 

 the resuscitation of the country, and the recuperation of the 

 farmers, whose wealth and resources had been swept away by 

 the cruel hand of war. This, however, was but a transient 

 thought, as applied to the farmers of the South ; for a moment's 

 reflection convinced him that there was vital need of organiza- 

 tion among the farmers of the entire Union, North as well as 

 South. In his soliloquy he asked himself why farmers should 

 not join in a league peculiar to themselves, to which others 

 should not be admitted. Such a union would be partisan ; and, 

 if partisan, it should be secret ; and, if secret, it must have a 

 ritual to make it effective and attractive. 



This process of reasoning rapidly brought him to a conclusion, 

 and forthwith he undertook to execute the ritualistic framework 

 of such an organization. The task was, however, beyond his 

 capacity, and he soon found himself sounding in deep water. 

 But Kelley was a man not easily baffled ; so, with ardor una- 

 bated, he resorted to the expedient of advising with counsellors. 

 Mr. J. R. Thompson, an officer in the Treasury Department, 

 and Mr. William M. Ireland, chief clerk in the Finance Division 

 of the Post Office Department, to which bureau Kelley had 

 been transferred in the fall of 1866, were two congenial com- 

 panions, whose acquaintance he had made after his return from 

 the South. 



Mr. William Saunders, superintendent of the garden and 

 grounds of the Department of Agriculture, was invited to join 

 them, which he did. This quartet, unwilling to pass judgment 

 upon the work of their own minds, invited the Rev. John Trim- 

 ble, then an officer in the Treasury Department, to exercise the 

 privilege of criticising their labors as they progressed. After a 

 season, the Rev. A. B. Grosh, then a clerk in the Agricultural 



