A BRIEF HISTORY OF
GUIDING STAR GRANGE, No. 1.

In 1867, shortly after the end of the Civil War, Oliver H. Kelley founded the first Grange, or Patrons of Husbandry, with the purpose of promoting the spiritual and social well-being of farm families. Farmers were settling throughout the plains states, and Granges, too, spread quickly, soon becoming a significant force in the struggle to curb the growth and power of the railroad monopolies. The Grange took the initiative in fighting for regulations to control railroad and grain elevator charges, which h it farmers especially hard. Railroad companies fought these laws, which became known as Granger laws, all the way to the Supreme Court.

Greenfield farmers organized the first Grange in Massachusetts in June of 1873. Meetings of Guiding Star Grange No. 1 were usually held in Chandler Hall at Nash's Mills, close to the present site of the Grange. Programs at the Grange meetings were varied. Members debated political issues (Should Religious and School Property Be Taxed?) and issues of domestic consequence (Resolved: "That the Duties of the Housewife are Greater than Those of the Husband."--decided finally in the affirmative, no doubt after spirited debate); organized co-operative buying clubs (in one case, buying a carload of flour); conducted fund-raisers in aid of international humanitarian efforts, as for relief of famine in Japan; and, as steady fare, were treated to an assortment o f entertaining presentations by Grange members. Meetings might include spelling matches, singing, and the reading of essays on varied topics, including "How to Make Farm Life More Attractive to Young Men." The women of Guiding Star Grange participated fully in all Grange activities. Grange women were allowed to vote and hold office, a rarity at a time when women were generally disenfranchised. Of the original slate of fourteen officers here in Greenfield, six were women. Due to the understandable circumspection of Grange secretaries, we cannot know exactly what happened in early Grange meetings. However, their notes occasionally offer hints that invite speculation: "Nov. 11, 1873: Unusual order and decorum marked all proceedings." Were proceedings then usually disorderly and indecorous? Was this meeting a solemn occasion for some unrecorded reason, or were the more contentious members absent? At least one secretary suggested that meetings went on too long, noting that certain members argued "very ably and at great length." Often, agenda items had to be postponed "due to the lateness of the hour." Some members may have tried passing the time more agreeably than others found suitable: an early version of the by-laws forbade dancing and card-playing at regular meetings.

Guiding Star Grange lapsed in 1882 and was reorganized in December 1903, with dues set at ten cents per month. Changing times were reflected in the entertainments, as on one evening in 1904, when "Mrs. Pierce favored [members] with some selections upo n the phonograph." At this time, the Grange was still without a permanent hall. Remedying that lack was an affair that became a decades-long tradition beginning with a successful supper provided by the Grange at the 1905 Franklin County Fair. The profits of $171.27 were "deposited by the Treasurer in the bank at interest as a Grange Building fund." Many years and fund-raisers later, in August of 1931, the Ladies Circle of the Grange bought a half-acre of land at the corner of Silver and Chapman streets. They issued a challenge to the men of the Grange: if the building could be completed within a yea r, the Ladies Circle would donate the land to the Grange proper. On Columbus Day, members cleared the land where the building now stands. The underbrush was so thick that according to one account, "the men and women of the organization turned back the pages of time and cleared the land in the same style as did their colonial ancestors. Fire and axes were brought into play...and by nightfall the building site had been cleared." Only five months later, in February of 1932, the new hall was dedicated. The building had a modern kitchen and other "modern conveniences," a ladies' sitting room and a gentlemen's smoking room, numerous closets, a stage, and, most notably, a beautiful maple wood floor, perfect for dancing. Though members had constructed the hall with their own labor, they needed a mortgage of $4000. "To raise money, the Grange sponsored Friday night community dances and the Ladies Circle put on public suppers, fairs, parties, and "entertainment." This was during the Great Depression, which hit the Greenfield area hard--there were more than three hundred foreclosures between 1932 and 1938. Despite its own need for funds, the Grange allowed organizations "interested in community service" to use the hall rent- free. Even so, the fifth anniversary of the dedication was an occasion for another celebration. On February 16, 1937, the fully-paid mortgage was publicly burned on the stage of the hall, with 600 people on hand to witness the pyrotechnics.

Over the years, active membership in the Grange dwindled. Farmers became fewer, and somehow time and energy, despite the growing number of time- and labor-saving devices, became scarce. With fewer members to help with maintenance, preserving the hall became a struggle. The will and spirit remained, but the means began to fade. In the fall of 1980, David Kaynor, present Master of Montague Grange #141, began renting the hall regularly for Friday night contradances. When the Ladies' Circle first bought the land, naysayers had predicted that the site was so far out of town that no one would come, and fifty years later, there were nights when it seemed that they had been right. When so few dancers tossed their $2 into the fiddle case that the band couldn't cover the rent, Grange member Clarence Turner would wave a hand and say, "Make it up later." Now, music fills the hall every Friday night, most Saturdays, and occasionally other nights as well. Depending on the night, it is possible to hear traditional New England contradance tunes, Cajun music, swing, or Swedish music. The contra dances in this hall have become a sort of dancer's mecca, known for good music and dancing, a relaxed spirit, questionable limericks, and a great dance floor. The readiness of the Grange to accept dancers as tenants has been beneficial to all, allowing th e dancers to develop into a community and helping the Grange to keep the building in reasonable repair. Over the past several years, many dancers have joined the Grange. Because of the welcome that long-time Grangers have extended to members of the dance community, it has been possible to maintain the kind of enthusiasm that animated the early Grange member ship. In addition to ongoing work on improvements , large and small, the current Grange membership is hoping to make the hall handicapped-accessible, a project that seems almost as overwhelming as the initial building project must have been. The hall itse lf is a constant reminder that the difficult can be done, with hard work, persistence, creativity, and good will.

Written by the Guiding Star Grange Historians: Catherine Ball and Becky Hollingsworth

A Recent History of the Guiding Star Grange #1

By Richard Henry, Treasurer & Past Master

"Many people have asked me why Guiding Star Grange #1 did such a tremendous turn around. I will attempt to explain.

Approximately six years ago (1992), we were approached by a member of the board of Selectman and the Town of Greenfied Recreation Director as a result of a complaint from the father of a young handicapped individual in town. The complaint came about because the hall was not handicapped accessible and there were no handicapped restroom facilities. The town suggested that we sell the hall to them for $1.00 also that they would also let us use the hall as long as we continued to exist as an organization.

Being few in number with many of us getting older while realizing that we had insufficient funds to make the

Links

• The Grange Connection
• The Massachusetts State Grange
• Connecticut Valley Pomona #19