A Gift From the Grange

Founding of The Grange

After the Civil War, Midwestern farmers were angry that railroad monopolists and middlemen merchants gained more profit than they did from their crops and livestock. In response, Minnesotan Oliver H. Kelley founded a group in 1867 that became the first national farm organization and was commonly known as “The Grange.” It had the officious formal full name of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. That name led for the group to also be referred to as “The Patrons of Husbandry.”

The Grange in Wisconsin

Wisconsin was part of the nation’s wheat belt at the time. In 1870 the state raised more than 24 million bushels of spring wheat, second only to Iowa. The Badger State was fifth overall in wheat production. Feeling the pinch when selling and shipping wheat, farmers in Wisconsin founded local Granges by 1870. A statewide Grange was created in 1872.  

The People’s Reform Party

As the Wisconsin Grange gained members and political strength, they looked for a political home. Republicans did not seem interested in railroad regulation and Democrats were still struggling following their perceived lukewarm support for the Union in the Civil War. The Wisconsin Grange members helped launch the “Peoples Reform” party for the 1873 elections. Democrat and Grange member William Robert Taylor was their nominee for governor. He had supported the Union through the Civil War, operated a farm in Cottage Grove, and had been an officer in the Dane County Agricultural Society. He promised railroad regulation. He was elected with 55 percent of the popular vote.

The Granger Gourd

Governor Taylor urged passage of regulations at his first address to the legislature in January 1874. In appreciation and anticipation for his reform, members of a Vernon County Grange presented him with the decorated gourd. Newspaper accounts suggest it was Henry Waters, brother of Charles, who made the presentation on February 13, 1874.  

The Taylor administration eventually passed the “Potter Law,” Wisconsin's first effort to reduce railroad freight and passenger rates. The strongest of several railroad regulation (or "Granger") laws passed by Midwestern states, the Potter Law was initially seen as a triumph for the reformers in general and for angry Grangers in particular. Wisconsin men to supported reform candidates in 1875 except Gov. Taylor. He lost his reelection by 842 votes with more than 160,000 cast. He returned to farming and remained in Wisconsin until his death.