Information Sheet

 

 

R         Mount Olive Grange No. 859 (Webster County, Mo.).

1152                Records, 1873-1879.

                                    One folder, photocopies.

 

 

 

These are records of Mount Olive Grange No. 859, a local chapter of the Patrons of Hus­bandry, or National Grange, in Webster County, Missouri.  Included are minutes of meetings, a cash account book, and membership rolls.

 

Mount Olive Grange No. 859 was located in the Mount Olive rural community south of Marshfield in Webster County, Missouri.  It was organized on 24 September 1873, and these re­cords cover the first six years of its existence.  Membership was never large, being around 20 to 25, including several female members.  Surnames of members included Brooks, Newcomer, Bouldin, Hensley, Florance, Strader, Welch, Bruton, Bridwell, Robineau, Kinsler, and Bradford.

 

The first and most important volume contains the minutes of meetings, from the first in 1873 into 1879, although it is likely that some pages are missing from the volume and not all meetings have been recorded.  Topics discussed included attendance, payment of dues, naming delegates to the county-wide meetings, and the conduct of the organization’s Masonic-like rituals, including regalia, signs and passwords, and degrees.  Subjects of discussion also included the Na­tional Grange’s insurance plans and the establishment of a cooperative store in Marshfield.  On the whole it appeared that fellowship was more important to the members than agricultural methodol­ogy and political action.

 

The second volume is a cash account book, noting income, mostly from dues, and payments to the state-level office and for supplies.  The third volume lists membership rolls, although not very systematically.

 

 

Index Cards for this collection
Shelf List for this collection
Questions? Use our Researcher Registration Form

Return to WHMC-Rolla's home page.