Granges played key part of early rural social life

Apr. 13—Ralph Boyd recalls the romance with his future wife, Pat, began at the original Stoney Point Grange in Delaware Township.

"We were both in the same class at Greenville High School, and we both found ourselves at the Grange dance one night," Boyd said. "She asked me to dance with her and, well, we've been together ever since. We've been married over 62 years."

In 2023 the Pennsylvania State Grange celebrated its 150th anniversary, with events still being held here and there. The Grange began nationally in 1867.

There are six Granges left in Mercer County. But over time 60 Granges became inactive or merged into others, according to Pennsylvania State Grange records.

The first local Grange appears to have been in the Grove City area and started Feb. 4, 1874.

Dozens of new Granges popped up all over the county over the next three years. Then as time wore on they began to merge. But they were still very popular in all rural areas with growing membership, Boyd said.

"You have to remember there were no phones back then," he said. "If you wanted to find out what was going on in your little area you went to your Grange. It was like that for decades — even when I was little."

Granges had secret handshakes and verbal passwords among its members. And meetings were kept very private.

"You'll find most of the older Grange buildings had two floors," Boyd said. "Meetings were held on the second floor so that nobody could look through the windows to see who was there."

Local Granges hold meetings once or twice a month. For many, like Stony Point, they have a spiritual side.

"We have a Bible on an altar that's opened when we start the meetings and closed when we end," Boyd said.

Many Grange members have taken the route Boyd has. Working on the family farm in Hempfield Township as a youngster, he migrated to a career with the former Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad, now CN Railroad.

Harry Canon is the master of the Shenango Township Grange. He only worked several years on a nearby farm in the late '50s during his early teens but enjoyed the experience.

Learning a trade in carpentry then welding, he joined that Grange in the early '80s.

"I'm not a farmer," Canon said. "I'm just a regular person."

Down to 13 members, he acknowledged more are needed to keep the organization active.

"We welcome people at any time," Canon said.

Jeffrey Holmes and his wife Deborah have belonged to New Vernon Grange in the Sandy Lake area for decades. Like many granges the group sold their building and now meet at a nearby restaurant.

"It was getting too expensive to maintain," Jeffrey said of the Grange hall.

Working on his grandfather's potato farm in Millcreek Township for a few years, at age 75 he hasn't farmed since 1980.

Both retired from non-farm careers, he worked at PennDOT while Deborah was a nurse. Non-farmer members are now common in Granges.

"We're mostly a rural social organization," Jeffrey said.

Some Granges have public events. Log Cabin Unity Grange in the eastern part of Mercer County recently held an Easter egg hunt. Over the years it also has had camps for children and fundraisers such as shoe drives. Stony Point produces and sells ice cream from June through September to help pay expenses and also for donations to other groups and causes.

"We're the only Grange in Mercer County that still has their own building," Boyd said. "And with that comes expenses."

Ginny Steese Richardson, chairman — that's what she likes to call herself, of the Mercer County Republican Party — is a member of the London Grange.

"I joined the Junior Grange when I was five," Richardson said.

She continues living on a Pine Township farm that had been in her late husband's family for generations. She doesn't farm but leases the land to a farmer.

In their hey-day Granges were a political force to be reckoned with, Richardson said.

"The local Granges would get together and have a legislative dinner dinner to invite all of the politicians," she said.

Grange membership has fallen sharply over the years in Mercer County. Hectic, two-income family dynamics are part of the reason and another is kids now are far more likely involved in time-consuming sports, Boyd said.

"But I always tell people to come visit our Grange he said. "We really enjoy ourselves."