The Maine State Grange Patrons of Husbandry was established in Maine in 1874, meeting for their first annual session that December in Lewiston. The earliest Grange in Maine was organized a year prior in Hampden, a farming community near Bangor. The National Grange, founded after the Civil War in 1867 by Oliver Hudson Kelley, was a fraternal organization established to work for farm interests. Early Grange efforts included establishing cooperatives (for buying and selling) and lobbying for issues such as rural education, rural mail delivery, and farm credit. Also, the Grange supported woman suffrage as early as 1893. Due primarily to the efforts of Caroline A. Hall, Kelley's niece, the Grange was established as an egalitarian organization and included women as equal members with men. Offices specifically for women were part of the governance structure from the beginning, but women were not restricted from holding any Grange office. The offices designated specifically for women were Ceres, Pamona, Flora, and Lady Assistant Steward. The first women to hold these statewide offices in Maine were Harriet P. Ham from Lewiston (Ceres, 1874 - 1877); S. Josephine Dennett from Portland (Pomona, 1874-1875); Wealthy J. Cobb from Poland (Flora, 1874-1875); and Mrs. H. I. Jackson from Lewiston (Lady Assistant Steward, 1874 - 1877). The first Augusta woman to hold a State Grange office was Hallie W. Weeks, who served as Lady Assistant Steward from 1894-1897. The Grange is active today, with programs and services that reflect contemporary rural life. Many women work for and hold Grange offices, including Dorothy A. Brown, Debra Stowe, Dolores Moore, Susan Hackett, Debbie Nelson, Frances Roberts, Patricia Libby. Yvette Herbert assists her husband, Phil, who is the State Grange Master in 2001.

 

Site #23.1 Sources:

	About the Grange - Massachusetts State Grange. Online resource available at http://www.massgrange.org/main.htm. Accessed 2 September 2001.
	Boone County Fair [Illinois]. Online resource available at http://www.boonecountyfair.com/membership.htm. Accessed 2 September 2001.
	Guptill, Samuel Careleton. –The Grange in Maine - 1874 - 1940." Thesis, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 1973.
	Haskell, Meg. –A New Focus: Not just farming, but community." The Maine Times Cover Story. Online newspaper available at www.meepiu.org. Accessed 3 June 2001.
	Homepage for Maine State Grange. Online resource available at http://nationalgrange.org/states/maine.htm. Accessed 2 September 2001.
	Howe, Stanley Russell. A Fair Field and No Favor: A Concise History of the Maine State Grange. Augusta, ME: Maine State Grange, 1994.
	Marti, Donald B. –Sisters of the Grange: Rural Feminism in the Late Nineteenth Century." Agricultural History, 58, July 1984, 250, 260.
	North, James W. The History of Augusta Maine. Somesworth, NH: New England History Press, 1981. New forward by Edwin A. Churchill. Originally published in 1870 by Clapp and North of Augusta, ME.
	Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785 - 1812. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1990; Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, 1991 (paperback).