The Blackwater Grange # 152 held its last meeting on November 8, 2013. I wrote an article about the Grange several years ago and it appears in my book Halfway Up The Hill. I felt that I should rewrite this article as it applies to current times as we honor the many years that the Grange served Andover and surrounding communities.

Several years ago I attended a church service where a gospel singing group from Pennsylvania was performing. They noticed a group of people sitting in the congregation with blue and gold sashes and asked what they represented. They were told the Grange. They appeared to still be puzzled, although they did not pursue the matter.

It got me to wondering how many younger people realized what the organization was. It was founded in 1867 to promote the interests of agricultural people. I was fortunate enough to receive my 50-year membership pin in December 2000, and I treasure what the Grange has done and the support that it has given rural communities over the many years of its existence.

The Grange, whose popular name was Patrons of Husbandry, was founded in 1867 as a fraternal organization for farm families to promote the interest of agricultural people. The Granges is a secret order and has a simple ritual. Its membership consists of both sexes, and the minimum age to join is 14.

Although the Grange was organized primarily as a social and educational organization, it served to concentrate public attention on the acute agricultural distress that followed the panic of 1873. Much of the difficulty was blamed on the railroads, which were accused of charging exorbitant and discriminatory rates and other high-handed practices.

Grange meetings became occasions of political discussion and actions. This resulted in laws being passed in many states that regulated the rates of railroads and warehouses and established permanent regulatory commissions. The railroads challenged these many times, and eventually it ended up in the US Supreme Court which held, in March 1877, that the states had the right to enact these regulations.

The Grange during this period attempted many different business undertakings, including stores, marketing organizations, and the manufacture of farm implements. Most of these failed.

Membership rose and fell over the years. It hit its peak of 800,000 in 1870 and had dropped to 125,000 by 1880. Around 1890 it started to rise again, and in recent years it has declined markedly.

It probably would be useful to explain that the Blackwater Grange Hall was on the second floor of the building where, today, there is a physical therapy business and a doctor’s office. Access to the hall was a set of stairs from the Poplar Street side of the building.

When you reached the second floor, there were two doors. The door in front of you was the main entrance to the Grange Hall. If you turned right and entered the other door, you went into Oscar Couture’s barber shop, which also served as the ante room for Grange meetings. The space that was used for the meeting and the other room used for Grange suppers and other gatherings are now apartments.

My father and mother, Paul and Bertha Fenton, were very active for many years. My father had the distinction of being the youngest Master elected to the Grange when he was installed at 18 years of age in 1924. Mother served as secretary for many years.

I can remember when growing up that I could hardly wait until I was 14 so that I could join the Grange. It was a great source of entertainment during World War II. There would be shows that the members would put on, suppers held, fairs where ladies’ handiwork as well as farm products, both fresh and canned, were displayed and judged, as well as many other activities.

Before I was old enough to join, I remember the parties they used to have. Song feasts, skits, and general good times. Mr. Globitt put on a show dressed up as a woman, and no one knew who he was until he finished and took off his wig.

The thing I always looked forward to was the Grange Fair that was usually held in October after all the crops were harvested. I can remember the grab bags that used to be in the middle of the floor where the Andover Service Club used to sell their used clothing before they moved to their present location between the police station and the Andover Elementary/Middle School.

I couldn’t wait to get out of school and get over there to buy a little brown bag that might hold a small amount of candy or a tiny toy. The excitement of not knowing what might be in those little bags kept me on the edge of my school chair all day, and my concentration was limited.

For adults, there were handmade quilts, crocheted table cloths and doilies, as well as plates of fruits and vegetables spread out along the walls and on the tables for all to see and admire while they were being judged. That evening there would usually be a supper. The interesting part of the Grange Fairs was that all of the items were made or grown by the people of this town.

Grange visitations were a big thing for many people but I don’t think anyone, in my memory, did more visiting than Al Eaton. If you do not know who he was, he took care of the Potter Place railroad station and picked up the mail from the trains. There is a picture of him with his well-known mustache in the stationmaster’s office at the Andover Historical Society’s museum in Potter Place.

Al would travel all over the state by train to visit Granges and bring back reports to his home Grange, Blackwater Grange #152. He never owned or drove a car and depended on others to get him to the different Grange meetings after his train ride.

The Grange filled a very vital need for rural families in years past, providing them with a political voice as well as entertainment for the entire family. In recent years, public interest in the Grange has been on the decline. Many granges have given up their charters.

There were two granges in Andover at one time. Highland Lake Grange #88 in East Andover received its charter on December 14, 1876, and Blackwater Grange #152 received its charter on May 22, 1890.

Highland Lake Grange sold its meeting hall to the Andover Congregational Church and dissolved its charter around 1991. It was around that time that Blackwater Grange sold its building and took the money from the sale and invested it. The returns from the investment were donated each year to organizations and groups in Andover that were working to improve the community through volunteer effort.

The Salisbury Grange gave up its charter in 2004. The Danbury Grange is very active and is the one bright spot of Grange activity in this area.

The ending of the presence of the Blackwater Grange and its influence on the Andover community will provide many fond memories to the older generation. We no longer are an agrarian community, and thus the purpose of the Grange could no longer attract the younger generation. All we can say is, “Thank you,” Blackwater Grange, for what you have done over the years for all of us.