“In essentials, unity. In non-essentials , liberty. In all things, charity.”
— Motto of the Grange

The hulking, three-story building at Danville Junction in Auburn, with its peeling paint and worn steps, is an iconic Maine structure.

A Grange hall.

The Danville Grange, built near the railroad junction in 1898, is the only surviving Grange in Lewiston-Auburn. The Twin Cities once had seven neighborhood Granges, five in Auburn and two in Lewiston.

Gladys Chapman, now “over 80,” joined the Youth Grange when she was 11. She belonged to the Stevens Mill Grange in Auburn until it started to sink into the ground and had to be demolished, she said during a recent tour of the Danville Grange, where she has served with the title lady assistant steward.

“(Stevens) was such a wonderful Grange,” she said. “I just remember it being such a fun time. A lot of farmers’ kids joined the Youth Grange. We would meet downstairs during (the adult) meetings, learning about the Grange. It was the backbone of so many places in Maine.”

Officially The National Grange of the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry, it was founded in the 19th century as an advocacy group for farmers looking for a fair shake.

Today, it offers rural communities support such as information and activities, and better internet and health care access, according to Maine State Grange Master/President Sherry Harriman.

But it remains true to its roots, she said.

“We are still advocating for fair agricultural trade practices, benefits, laws and support,” she said.

The Grange, an archaic word that means farmstead, was founded as a fraternal order in Washington, D.C., in 1867 by six men and one woman.

The first Maine Granges opened in 1874, according to state historian Stan Howe. (The 150th Maine State Grange Convention will be held in October in Auburn.)

“By the end of 1874, there were 64 Granges and approximately 2,000 members,” according to Howe’s history published on mainestategrange.org.

“From the beginning, there was great interest in cooperative activities including offering insurance, advocating railroad and banking regulation, and promoting group purchasing. In 1876, the (Maine) Order had grown to over 228 Granges with about 12,000 members.”

Legislatively, the Grange supported prohibition and Rural Free Delivery, Howe wrote.

The Grange also advocated for strong local schools and increased funding for the University of Maine, according to Howe’s history.

“The Grange worked with state governmental agencies to promote reform in Maine agricultural practices and protect the quality of fertilizer,” Howe wrote. “In the Progressive era, the Grange supported the direct primary, recall and referendum, voting rights for women and curbs on monopolies.”

Its strength in numbers was a boon to Maine farmers. Membership continued to grow through the century and reached about 55,000 among 419 orders by around 1900.

Maine’s per-capita membership was the largest in the nation at that time, Howe wrote.

However, membership has dwindled consistently since the 1960s.

“Maine now has 80 Granges, with about 2,200 members ages 14 to 114, in towns Fryeburg to Perry (west to east) and Eliot to Ashland (south to north),” Harriman said. Most are located south of Augusta, she said.

RITUALS AND CHICKEN DINNERS

Oliver Hudson Kelley, the founder of the National Grange, organized the order because he believed farmers needed political muscle — and rural folks needed social interaction.

“(Kelley) had long held that farmers, because of their independent and scattered nature, needed a national organization that would represent them much as unions were beginning to do for industrial workers,” Howe wrote.

“Farmers were at the mercy of merchants for both needed farm supplies and for marketing their crops. Railroads and warehouse companies were taking advantage of farmers as well,” Howe wrote.

Each Grange has a legislative committee that lobbies for causes, he said.

“All policy within the Grange originates at the local level and the organization remains as one of America’s best examples of democratic grassroots activism,” Howe said.

And perhaps to make things more interesting, Grange founder Kelley, a Freemason, modeled Grange meetings on the traditions of fraternal orders: ritual, charity and a bit of secrecy.

Each meeting of a local Grange begins with the opening of a Bible, which stays open during the meeting, according to Master Maynard Chapman of the Danville Grange.

A secret password is collected from each member at the meeting.

Grange meetings originally were held in secret, but now many allow visitors. Passwords were used to keep railroad spies out of their meetings, according to Wikipedia.

At Danville Grange, “stations,” where the elected officers sit, are arranged meticulously along the edges of the large meeting room.

A program prepared by the lecturer might focus on something educational, inspirational, entertaining or musical. Stage shows were common in the early days of the Grange.

In addition to meetings, Grangers raise money, mostly for upkeep of their aging buildings.

Before COVID, bean suppers were held once a month at Danville, which can seat up to 85 people. That tradition has not been revived, Chapman said.

They also hosted bingo once a month (this will resume in December) and they sell chicken pies, complete with stuffing and gravy, that are cooked in the Grange kitchen and frozen for takeout.

“We all work in the kitchen, rolling dough,” Chapman said, adding that two of these cooks are ages 92 and 94.

Members also sell desserts at the Maine Grange Store at the Fryeburg Fair, he said. “Last year, we made 42 apple crisps,” Gladys Chapman said. “We all sat around and peeled apples.”

The Danville Grange has about 100 members, with about 25 active members, according to Maynard Chapman, the husband of Gladys Chapman.

Each local Grange has 15 to 16 elected officers, Maynard Chapman said, four of whom must be women or girls.

“The Grange never was male-dominated,” he said. “It always allowed women as full voting members — a true family organization.”

Children can join the Youth Grange at age 5 and become full members of the Junior Grange at age 14, Harriman said.

“They can hold an office and have a full vote and say in the Grange as any other member and get involved with the activities of betterment of the community,” she said.

“Maine does not have as many young people involved as in previous years, but the potential is there to collaborate with other like organizations,” she said.

MERGERS AND COMEBACKS

Accepting women and children in fraternal orders as full members and officers was unusual at the time of the Grange’s founding, if not unheard of.
It’s one of the things that Karen Caton-Locke likes about the Grange.

Caton-Locke is secretary of Community Grange, which was organized when Wilson Grange in Wilton and Chesterville Grange consolidated in 2021.

“Wilson did not have enough members and the hall in Chesterville needed extensive repairs,” said Caton-Locke, a Granger for 23 years. The new chapter meets at the Wilson Grange Hall.

Wilson had six members and Chesterville had 27, she said. “Fewer people are joining, but I’m aware it’s the same with all fraternal organizations and churches,” she said.

She said she and her husband joined the Grange because they had moved to the area and wanted to meet people and be part of the community. They found fellowship, she said. “Lifetime friends can be found there.”

And despite the low numbers, Community Grange remains active, Caton-Locke said. “We have donated dictionaries to third-graders at Academy Hill school,” she said. “We do two exhibits at Farmington Fair: Agricultural Display and Arts and Crafts display.”

Other Granges are making a comeback, Harriman said, including those in Waterford, Trenton, Alexander, Jonesboro, and Tranquility Grange in Lincolnville.

Ellie Waterman, master of Waterford Grange, said in a recent interview that the chapter is, in fact, “trying to make a comeback.” That process began with the hall, built in 1910, she said.

“It was pretty much falling apart,” she said. “We spent a lot of time painting and fixing things that needed fixing. We still have an outhouse, so let’s see if we can actually get a bathroom in there.”

She and other members have painted three sides of the building and replaced all of the windows. A chimney is being removed because it’s pushing against the floorboards.

The upgrade has been funded by the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation and a Grange building fund at the state level. “Now we’re looking for new members,” Waterman said.

The Waterford Grange has already seen a small influx of members, she said. Alder Stream Grange in Bethel has consolidated with Waterford, which had 18 members. The Bethel chapter about doubled that membership, Waterman said.

The only fundraiser Waterford had held in years past was an annual yard sale, she said. Now, with the hall cleaned out and spruced up, they are looking to rent out the building for events such as memorial services, birthday parties, and other community gatherings, she said.

Bean suppers, a Grange tradition, have been revived in Waterford, she said. The next is scheduled for Sept. 20. The Grange also will hold a Halloween dance this year with a live band, which offered to play at no charge, she said.

The Waterford Grange has also recently stepped up its charitable work, donating money to Waterford Recreation and a diaper drive organized by Community Concepts, Waterman said.

“We’re really trying to step it up,” she said.

This summer, they began offering free knitting, crocheting and rug-braiding classes.

“Anybody can come,” Waterman said. “There’s a sitting nook so people can comfortably sit and do knitting or crocheting. We have needles that were donated. Just come and relax and have coffee or tea and snacks.

“It’s just a matter of if you want to come and spend some time, if you want to talk about your kids or what’s growing in your garden, or you want to knit a sweater.”

Waterman lives nearby, and she’s happy to open the hall for people “anytime that works best — evenings, weekends, afternoons,” she said.

She sees the Grange as a greatly needed social hub for the community. “Other than the church, we’re one of the last remaining local places,” she said.

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