LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - APRIL 19, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio The story of the Grange started with a man by the name of Oliver Kelley who owned a farm near Anoka, Minnesota. He was serving in Washington with the Agriculture Department when President Andrew Johnson asked Kelley to go to the Southern states to learn about the conditions that the farmers were experiencing after the Civil War. Unfortunately, the southern famers were very suspicious of Northerners like Kelley, but he was determined to win their confidence and as a member of the Masonic Lodge, he was able to make contact with the Masonic Lodges in the towns he visited. Gradually he was able to see firsthand the war-torn farms. Conditions were deplorable and farming practices were outdated. Kelley saw the need to bring the farmers together and proposed a national organization that could help the farmers. It was known as National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. Interestingly, he came east and Grange #1 was founded in 1868 in Fredonia, New York. The Grange Hall still stands in Fredonia and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Within a few years, membership in the Grange grew from 200,000 in 1873 to 858,050 in 1875. The Grange was remarkable because it encouraged women and any teenager, old enough to draw a plow, to become a member. In fact, it was a rule that four of the officers had to be women. Many of the state and local Granges adopted non-partisan political resolutions that dealt with railroad transportation costs. It was the Grange that pushed legislation providing rural mail delivery. The formation of the Oatka Falls Grange on Parmelee Road, began in 1876, when Mr. Palmer from Riga met with any area residents at the Fort Hill School. The Oatka Falls Grange #394 was formed with 22 charter members. The first master was Dwight H. Pierson. J. Angus McPherson was elected treasurer. Meetings were held in a vacant house on Parmelee Road every Saturday evening. For many years, the Grange operated a cooperative store for its members and in 1877, they organized an insurance company. In June 1878, a fire destroyed the meeting house but quickly they formed a stock company to raise capital to build a new Grange Hall. On October 24, 1878, members began digging the cellar and hauling stone for the basement walls and soon the new Grange Hall was built, all with volunteer help. The Grange had symbols and rituals similar to the Free Masons. There were secret oaths and special passwords and they borrowed ideas from Greek and Roman mythology. The Bible and ceremonial farm tools were often displayed at Grange meetings. There were seven degrees of Grange membership that related to the seasons and principals of agriculture. Eventually, those secret meetings and secret rituals were discouraged and the Grange turned its attention to critical issues of the rural agricultural population. During World War I, the Red Cross held weekly meetings at the Grange. The Oatka Falls Grange always had a beautiful decorated float in any parade held in LeRoy, and was well represented at the Genesee County Fair in Batavia. But attendance began to dwindle. In 1973, the Grange Hall was sold to Arthur Brew and the Grange members met at the Presbyterian Church in Stone Church. Brew used the old Grange Hall for his honey bee business. Many folks in that area remember seeingMr. Brew coming in with his truck loaded with wooden bee “supers” after spending the winter in the south. It was officially spring when the truck arrived and he began putting out the hives at local farms and orchards. Eventually the Grange Hall was sold and converted into a home. The Oatka Falls Grange