OVERVIEW
Minnesota Historical Society
Minnesota State Grange.
Grange records,
1868-1994 (bulk
1910-1966).
Materials in English.
Correspondence, subject files, and some financial records of a fraternal
society of farmers and others interested in agriculture. Includes some records of pomona (county or
district) and subordinate (local) grange lodges.
6.6 cubic feet (7 boxes, including 85 volumes, and 1 oversize folder,
unboxed).
See [Detailed Description](a9) section for shelf
locations.
HISTORICAL NOTE
Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley and six associates established the National Grange (Order
of the Patrons of Husbandry) in Washington, D.C., in 1867. Conceived as a social and educational
organization for farmers, it was also involved in cooperation and politics. It described itself as a
force for social betterment and as a spokesman for public affairs for the people of rural
America.
The Grange is a secret and ritualistic fraternal society of farmers and others interested in
agriculture. It is divided into a hierarchical structure of subordinate (local lodges), pomona
(county or district bodies), state, and national organizations.
The first subordinate grange in Minnesota was established in 1868 at St. Paul. The Minnesota
State Grange, the first state grange to be established in the United States, was organized in St.
Paul in 1869 (a minimum of 15 subordinate granges were required before a state grange could be
formed). Minnesota's first pomona grange was established in Mower County in 1912. By 1962 a total of
827 subordinate and 15 pomona lodges (not all then active) had been established in the state. In
1992 there were 9 active subordinate and 5 active pomona granges in Minnesota.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
Correspondence, subject files, and some financial records of the Minnesota State Grange. There
are also some miscellaneous records of or relating to several subordinate grange lodges, including
quarterly reports prepared by subordinate and pomona granges. Much of the material was found at the
Oliver H. Kelley Farmstead near Elk River, Minnesota after its acquisition in the early 1960s by the
Minnesota Historical Society.
The collection includes pamphlets and other printed material; constitutions and bylaws; a minute
book (1924, 1926-1928) and a folder of miscellaneous minutes; executive committee proceedings
(1883-1901); rosters (1933-1964); a few clippings; some song sheets and a grange song book (1964);
and a file of historical and background information. There is information about the National Grange
organization, and about Minnesota subordinate, juvenile, and pomona grange lodges.
A charter certificate (1874) for Big Lake Grange No. 477 (Sherburne County, Minn.) is filed as
+84.
ARRANGEMENT
These records are organized into the following sections:
- State Grange Records
- Subordinate Grange Records
- Grange Secretaries' Quarterly Reports to the State Grange
RELATED MATERIALS
Consult the catalog for the locations of other Grange-related materials, which are found in a
variety of formats in various Minnesota Historical Society collections.
Additional information about the Kelley Farmstead may be found in the Historic Sites Files of the
State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) at the Minnesota Historical Society.
CATALOG HEADINGS
Topics:
Agriculture -- Minnesota.
Cooperative societies -- Minnesota.
Farmers -- Minnesota -- Political activity.
Fraternal organizations -- Minnesota.
Historic farms -- Minnesota.
Places:
Kelley, Oliver H., Farmstead (Elk River, Minn.).
Persons:
Adams, Augusta J.
Archer, Frank A. (Frank Adelbert), 1890-1966.
Archer, Hildur S. (Hildur Swenson), 1888-1966.
Baird, Sarah G., 1843-1923.
Battles, Roy.
Eckert, Eugene A.
Goss, Albert S., 1882-1950.
Hofman, Eunice.
Kelley, Oliver H. (Oliver Hudson), 1826-1913.
Newsom, Herschel D., 1905-1970.
Pearson, William B., 1897-1987.
Organizations:
Big Lake Grange No. 477 (Sherburne County, Minn.).
Bloomington Grange No. 482 (Bloomington, Minn.).
Cedar River Grange No. 274 (Mower County, Minn.).
Constance Grange No. 682 (Anoka County, Minn.).
Crescent Grange 512 (Anoka County, Minn.).
Halcyon Grange No. 38 (Goodhue County, Minn.).
Isle Grange No. 665 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.).
Mille Lacs County Pomona Grange No. 5 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.).
Minnehaha Grange No. 398 (Edina, Minn.).
National Grange.
Onamia Grange No. 664 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.).
Sunbeam Grange (Elk River, Minn.).
Union Grange No. 659 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.).
Types of Documentation:
Charters.
Song books.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota State Grange
Records. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession numbers: 5225; 9388; 9816; 10,753; 11,782; 13,633; 14,266; 14,679; 14,688; 15,453; 17,137
Processing Information:
Catalog ID number: 001730245
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
State Grange Records
143.F.8.7B
1
Annual sessions, undated and 1899-1964, 1975-1994.
Articles of incorporation, circa 1875.
Holographic copy of the first three articles of the document, appearing on stationery dated 1875 beneath a detailed illustrated letterhead of the State Grange Secretary's office celebrating the American Farmers' Centennial (1876).
Attendance record: state conventions, 1939-1957.
Centennial Day, 1972.
Clippings, 1892-1976.
Committee lists, 1928.
Constitution and bylaws, 1873, 1883, 1929, 1978.
Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, undated and 1873-1963.
5 folders.
Primarily documents routine financial and membership matters, and the purchase (circa 1935) and
subsequent restoration of the Kelley farmstead by the National Grange. There are copies of
resolutions adopted by the State Grange, various reports from subordinate granges, lists of officers
and members of subordinate grange lodges, circular letters from the National Grange organization,
applications for membership in various subordinate granges, expense reports prepared by officers of
the State Grange, and miscellaneous statements of account. There is information about the activities
of subordinate granges (meetings, programs, elections) and the State Grange (meetings, routine
business, relations with subordinate granges). Correspondents represented in the collection include
officials of the Minnesota State Grange, the National Grange, and of subordinate granges.
Includes suggestions for aiding sufferers of a grasshopper plague (1874) and information about an
investigation of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Association (1874); the cultivation of amber cane
(1871); the management of the Kelley farm by the National Grange (1930s-1960s); the purchase of
furnishings for the Kelley home (1950s) and the funds for its maintenance; and the career of
Caroline Arabella Hall.
Executive Committee minutes (miscellaneous), 1873-1874.
Executive Committee proceedings, Feb. 15, 1883-Dec. 13, 1901. 2 volumes.
Farm policies and issues, 1930-1932.
Farmers National Grain Corporation, 1929-1931.
Grange Leader's Handbook, circa 1975.
143.F.8.8F
2
Granges: Minnesota, 1868-1873. 1 volume.
Record book giving data on the organization and organizers of Minnesota granges.
Historical and background information, undated and 1883-circa 1927.
Juvenile grange manuals, 1929, 1945-1947.
Juvenile granges, 1881-1883, 1963.
Includes 1 volume.
Lecturer's bulletins, 1947, 1950-1953, 1959-1964, 1979, 1981.
Legislative program,
1963.
List of officers of subordinate granges, 1885-1918. 1 volume.
List of pomona granges in Minnesota, 1963.
Lists of subordinate granges in Minnesota, 1874, 1963.
Subordinate granges listed in chronological order by date of organization. Includes dates of
organization; names of organizers, first masters, and first secretaries; and locations of the
granges. There are also lists of subordinate granges arranged alphabetically by counties, and
alphabetically by name.
Minute book, 1924, 1926-1928.
Minutes (miscellaneous), 1883, 1912, 1929.
National Grange, undated and 1868-1875, 1927-1954, 1966.
2 folders.
Oliver Hudson Kelley Farmstead, undated and 1930-1962.
Includes information about Oliver Hudson Kelley and the Oliver H. Kelley Farmstead, a property
that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and that was Kelley's home in the 1860s.
There is a 1962 inventory of items in the Kelley farm home with plans of the first and second floors
sketched by the person doing the inventory. Also includes some information about Caroline Arabella
Hall.
Photographs, undated and 1936-1973.
Quarterly reports to National Secretary, 1948-1963.
4 folders.
Quarterly reports to National Secretary: Juvenile granges, 1945, 1948-1963.
3 folders.
142.G.2.4F-2
4
Record book, 1881-1916.
Contains annual data on subordinate granges, including grange name and number, membership
statistics, names of masters and secretaries, and location of nearest express office.
Scrapbook (miscellaneous loose pages),
1964-1972.
Handwriting perhaps belongs to Mary Peterson, of Crescent Grange N0. 512.
143.F.8.9B
3
Record of letters and materials sent, 1890-1912. 2 volumes.
Resolutions, 1972-1973, 1975.
Rosters, 1933-1964.
3 folders.
Song sheets, undated and 1937.
State Lecturer's handbook, circa 1957.
Subordinate granges, undated and 1909-1932.
The Patron (Grange song book), 1964. 1 volume.
Women's activities (formerly Home Economics), undated and 1947-1954.
Women's activities reports, 1967-1971.
Youth program, undated and 1966-1967.
142.G.2.4F-2
4
Private herd register (swine), G. C. Archer & Son, Elmwood Farms, Ogilvie,
Minn.,
1913-1915.
143.F.8.9B
3
Miscellany, undated and 1876, 1913, 1930-1988.
Financial volumes:
Account book, 1875-1916.
Cash book, 1913-1925.
Cash journals:
1935-1940.
1955-1966.
Cash receipts books:
1948-1953.
1955-1963.
Dues account and roll book ("Book No. 1"), 1913-1933.
Expense book, Jan. 2, 1913-Nov. 1919; Dec. 5-12, 1927.
Journal, 1928-1940.
144.E.7.3B
5
Ledgers:
1870-1876.
Dec. 14, 1904-March 31, 1913.
1913-1922.
Secretary's accounts, 1902-1923.
Untitled accounts, 1935-1937.
Subordinate Grange Records
+84
Big Lake Grange No. 477 (Sherburne County, Minn.): Charter certificate, 1874.
Document issued by the national Patrons of Husbandry organization organizing the Big Lake
Grange.
144.E.7.3B
5
Bloomington Grange No. 482 (Bloomington, Minn.), 1882-1904.
Cedar River Grange No. 274 (Mower County, Minn.): Secretary's minute book,
1873-1877.
Constance Grange No. 682 (Anoka County, Minn.):
Home Economics Club minute books, 1944-1946, 1951, 1961-1963. 3 volumes.
Record books, 1935-1971. 7 volumes.
Roll book, 1936-1967.
Miscellaneous records, undated and 1935.
Constance Juvenile Grange No. 6 (Anoka County, Minn.), 1938-1939.
Crescent Grange No. 512 (Anoka County, Minn.):
Centennial history, 1974.
142.G.2.4F-2
4
Mary Peterson scrapbook, 1964-1977.
144.E.7.3B
5
Halcyon Grange No. 38 (Goodhue County, Minn.), 1871-1878.
144.E.7.4F
6
Mille Lacs County Pomona Grange No. 5:
Dues record book, 1940-1972.
Record books, 1945-1972. 6 volumes.
Roll book, 1968-1972.
142.G.2.4F-2
4
Scrapbooks, 1932-1953, 1961-1963.
Traveling project, 1951.
144.E.7.4F
6
Traveling project, 1952.
Subordinate granges:
Isle Grange No. 665 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.):
Record books, 1957-1972. 3 volumes.
Onamia Grange No. 664 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.):
Dues account book, 1956-1966.
Record books, 1932-1967. 8 volumes.
Roll book, 1933-1946.
144.E.7.5B
7
Onamia Juvenile Grange No. 14 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.):
Dues account book, 1947-1947.
Record book, 1945-1947.
Union Grange No. 659 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.):
Committee roll books, 1942-1959. 2 volumes.
Dues account book, 1932-1959.
Record books:
1936-1940.
1950-1959. 2 volumes.
Roll books, undated and 1942-1951. 2 volumes.
Miscellany, 1951-1959.
United Grange No. 661 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.):
Scrapbook, 1934.
Minnehaha Grange No. 398 (Edina, Minn.), 1932-1950.
Sunbeam Grange No. 2 (Sherburne County, Minn.):
Dues account book, 1950-1962.
Historical sketch, 1958.
Record books, 1933-1965. 7 volumes.
Roll book, circa 1929-1958.
Sunbeam Juvenile Grange No. 3 (Sherburne County, Minn.):
Record book, 1938-1944.
Grange Secretaries' Quarterly Reports to the State Grange
Reports (1909-circa 1933) submitted by secretaries of subordinate and pomona granges, which contain
membership data and financial information (dues, initiation fees) on four pomona and more than
seventy subordinate lodges in Minnesota.
143.F.8.7B
1
Folder 1:
Adams Grange No. 673 (Mower County, Minn.), 1960-1978.
Folder 2:
Albert Lea Grange No. 597 (Freeborn County, Minn.), 1910.
Alden Grange No. 598 (Freeborn County, Minn.), 1910-1911.
Ashland Grange No. 640 (Dodge County, Minn.), 1917.
Big Lake Grange No. 653 (Sherburne County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Brownsdale Grange No. 648 (Mower County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Brunswick Grange No. 663 (Kanabec County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Centennial Grange No. 615 (Mower County, Minn.), 1912-1918.
Claremont Grange No. 602 (Dodge County, Minn.), 1910-1917.
Claremont Grange No. 603 (Dodge County, Minn.), 1910-1911.
Clinton Falls Grange No. 613 (Steele County, Minn.), 1912-1914.
Clover Leaf Grange No. 623 (Freeborn County, Minn.), 1914-1915.
Cloverdale Grange No. 637 (Kanabec County Minn.), 1915-1916.
Community Grange No. 635 (Pine County, Minn.), 1914-1917.
Folder 3:
Concord Grange No. 614 (Mower County, Minn.), 1912-1926, 1932-1933.
Corning Grange No. 632 (Freeborn County, Minn.), 1913-1918.
Crescent Grange No. 512 (Anoka County, Minn.), 1909-1926.
Folder 4:
Crescent Grange No. 512 (Anoka County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Dailey Grange No. 662 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Elkton Grange No. 652 (Mower County, Minn.), 1933.
Elwood Grange No. 608 (Steele County, Minn.), 1910-1923.
Enterprise Grange No. 604 (Mower County, Minn.), 1910-1918.
Eureka Grange No. 601 (Dakota County, Minn.), 1910-1911.
Fairview Grange No. 655 (Mower County, Minn.), 1933.
Folder 5:
Fremont Grange No. 656 (Sherburne County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Gentilly Grange No. 585 (Polk County, Minn.), 1910.
Graceton Grange No. 641 (Beltrami County, Minn.), 1921.
Harris Grange No. 600 (Chisago County, Minn.), 1910-1913.
Harris Grange No. 642 (Chisago County, Minn.), 1933.
Havana Grange No. 606 (Steele County, Minn.), 1911-1915.
Haven Grange No. 657 (Sherburne County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Isle Grange No. 665 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Kelsey Grange No. 617 (St. Louis County, Minn.), 1912-1914.
Lansing Grange No. 605 (Mower County, Minn.), 1911-1914.
Lansing Grange No. 649 (Mower County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
LeRoy Grange No. 630 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913-1917.
Lincoln Grange No. 638 (Kanabec County, Minn.), 1915-1918.
Lodi Grange No. 631 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913.
Marshall Grange No. 618 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913.
143.F.8.8F
2
Folder 6:
Medford Grange No. 609 (Steele County, Minn.), 1911-1918.
Minneapolis Grange No. 332 (Minneapolis, Minn.), 1909-1914.
Minnehaha Grange No. 398 (Edina, Minn.), 1909-1935. (part)
Folder 7:
Minnehaha Grange No. 398 (Edina, Minn.), 1909-1935. (part)
Minnehaha Juvenile Grange No. 2 (Edina, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Minnereka Grange No. 622 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913-1917.
Minnetonka Grange No. 327 (Hennepin County, Minn.), 1909-1910.
Morning Star Grange No. 110 (Rice County, Minn.), 1873-1874.
Nevada Grange No. 620 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913-1914.
Oakland Grange No. 627 (Freeborn County, Minn.), 1913-1914.
Oak Leaf Grange No. 569, 1909-1924.
Folder 8:
Oak Leaf Grange No. 569 (Chisago County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Onamia Grange No. 664 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Page Grange No. 660 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Peerless Grange No. 616 (Mower County, Minn.), 1912-1915.
Pleasant Grove Grange No. 611 (Olmsted County, Minn.), 1911-1915.
Pleasant Valley Grange No. 639 (Pine County, Minn.), 1915.
Pleasant View Grange No. 619 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913-1918.
Pleasant View Grange No. 650 (Mower County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Pomona Granges:
Eastern Pomona Grange No. 2 (Chisago County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Mille Lacs County Pomona Grange No. 5 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Mower County Pomona Grange No. 1 (Mower County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Oliver Hudson Kelley Pomona Grange No. 4 (Sherburne County, Minn.),
1932-1933.
Pomroy Lake Grange No. 636 (Kanabec County, Minn.), 1915-1922.
Folder 9:
Racine Grange No. 610 (Mower County, Minn.), 1911-1912.
Ramsey Grange No. 628 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913-1916.
Red Rock Grange No. 625 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913-1915.
Renova Grange No. 633 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913-1918.
Richland Grange No. 612 (Rice County, Minn.), 1911-1913.
Riverside Grange No. 607 (Dodge County, Minn.), 1911.
Rose Creek Grange No. 624 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913-1915.
Sargeant Grange No. 651 (Mower County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Sherburn Grange No. 593 (Martin County, Minn.), 1909-1913.
South Fork Grange No. 658 (Kanabec County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Stewartville Grange No. 591 (Olmsted County, Minn.), 1909-1911.
Folder 10:
Sunbeam Grange No. 2 (Sherburne County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Sunbeam Juvenile Grange No. 3 (Sherburne County, Minn.), 1933.
Sunrise Grange No. 646 (Chisago County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
Union Grange No. 659 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
United Grange No. 661 (Mille Lacs County, Minn.), 1932-1933.
West Side Grange No. 621 (Mower County, Minn.), 1913-1917.