Information Sheet

 

 

R         Agricultural Wheel.  No. 657 (High Gate, Mo.).

396                  Records, 1888‑1890.

                                    Two folders, photocopies.

 

 

 

These are records of the local chapter of the Agricultural Wheel at High Gate in Maries County, Missouri.  The records include the constitution, by‑laws, membership roster and min­utes of meetings, and a pamphlet containing the constitutions of the National Farmers’ and Laborers’ Union of America, and the Farmers’ and Laborers’ Union of Missouri.

 

The Agricultural Wheel was a nationwide secret society of individuals connected with farm­ing.  Little is known about the Wheel, but it seems to have been associated or consoli­dated with the Farmers’ Alliance in the late 1880s.  The High Gate Agricultural Wheel was or­ganized on 4 April 1888.  Eight charter members were present.  The meeting was chaired by Ambrose Smith.  Other organizations of the Wheel in Missouri, mentioned in the High Gate records, were Bloom­ington, Grove Dale, Hill, Shinkle, Star, and Vichy.  One of the first orders of business of the High Gate chapter was to appoint a delegate to attend the organization of the Maries County Wheel on 10 April 1888.

 

The records of the High Gate Wheel consist of a small record book.  Most of the entries are minutes of regular monthly meetings beginning with the organizational meeting on 4 April 1888, and continuing through 22 February 1890.  The minutes indicate the agricultural and so­cial in­ter­ests of the organization.  Discussions on various aspects of farming were featured at the meet­ings, and members enjoyed a discount on purchases at the Wheel’s store at High Gate.  The min­utes also indicate that the local groups had charitable and social concerns.  Sick or distressed members were aided by committees appointed by the Wheel.  The Wheel also supported good roads, and in 1889 petitioned the Maries County court to levy taxes for road improvements.  The Wheel insisted on certain standards of behavior by its members, calling individuals to task for di­vulging the secrets of the organization, and for drunkenness.  Mem­bers could be expelled for in­fractions, but could also be reinstated at a later date.  Member­ship records indicate that forty‑six men and women belonged to the High Gate organization.

 

Although they are not extensive, the records of the High Gate Agricultural Wheel offer glimpses into farm and rural life in Missouri in the latter part of the nineteenth century.  The or­ganization flourished during the period when American agriculturists became a potent po­litical force.  Evidence of this increasing concern with political programs may be seen in the pamphlet containing national and state constitutions of the Farmers’ and Laborers’ Union.  The pamphlet ac­companies the records of the High Gate Wheel.  It was published in 1889 at St. Louis, by the pub­lishers of the Journal of Agriculture.

 

 

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