Title: Patrons of Husbandry. South Greenville Grange No. 225: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1873-1973

Creator:

• Patrons of Husbandry. South Greenville Grange No. 225 (Outagamie County, Wis.)

Call Number: Green Bay Mss 74; Green Bay Micro 17; Micro 715

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (4 archives boxes) and 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Records of an Outagamie County, Wisconsin farm organization which sponsored educational and social events and promoted legislation beneficial to agriculture; including minute books, membership records, and news clippings, photographs, and other scrapbook materials.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0074

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The South Greenville Grange #225 is the oldest continuously active grange in Wisconsin. On October 17, 1873, forty-two people attended its organizational meeting held in Congress Hall, a log cabin located about three miles west of Appleton and owned by German settlers in the area. The national grange, formally known as the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, granted a charter to the organization on October 27, 1873. John L. Pingel was elected first grand master.

A meeting hall, built on the John Pingel farm shortly after the grange was organized, was destroyed by a fire in 1880. The Grange met in a second hall on the Pingel farm until 1894, when the farm was sold and the organization needed a larger meeting place. At that time the Grange moved to its present location near the intersection of Highway 45 and County Trunk BB in Outagamie County and built a meeting hall there. The first building on this site was dismantled in 1928 and the present hall was constructed at that time. The new building was dedicated on June 30, 1929.

Most of the activities of the Grange were educational and social events such as talent shows, dances, dinners, children's programs, and musical performances. The organization also worked actively to promote agricultural legislation, especially the organizing and expanding of extension services and county and home agent programs. The South Greenville Grange celebrated its centennial on August 26, 1973. Among those honored at the celebration were nine members who had been active continuously for a period of fifty to sixty-five years. Grand masters have included John Pingel, John Zachow, Julius Waite, A. J. Nagel, Henry Schultz, Herman Ihde, Charles Haase, George Schaefer, William Menning, R. J. Schaefer, Wallace Pingel, John Schaefer, Herbert Wickesberg, Henry D. Schaefer, Harold Reinders, Earl Pingel, Ann Crawford, and Paul Porter.

The records of the South Greenville Grange #225 consist of OFFICIAL RECORDS and SCRAPBOOK MATERIALS. The OFFICIAL RECORDS include 21 volumes of minute books which contain the minutes of bi-weekly meetings, dues records and financial reports, and a membership roll and dues record book. The first volume of minutes, covering the period from October 1873 to January 1877, is missing.

The SCRAPBOOK MATERIALS were arranged and annotated by Mrs. Henry D. Schaefer, Grange historian, for the centennial celebration. They contain newspaper clippings, photographs, awards and certificates, a few reports, programs from anniversary celebrations of the Grange, obituaries of important members, and a small amount of congratulatory correspondence. They document important events throughout the history of the South Greenville Grange such as regular social gatherings, publicity drives, the role of the Grange in the community, anniversary celebrations, the National Grange Centennial in 1967 and the Wisconsin Grange Centennial in 1972. The memorabilia consists of a few loose items similar to the scrapbook materials. The scrapbook materials were microfilmed and the originals returned to the donor.

Among the related materials in the holdings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin are the records of the Elo Grange, Elo, 1925-1969; the Homestead Grange, Marinette County, 1914-1918, 1932-1944; the Hudson Prairie Grange, Hudson, 1901-1940; and a small collection of materials about George R. Schaefer and the South Greenville Grange.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the South Greenville Grange #225 via Mrs. Henry D. Schaefer, Appleton, Wisconsin, July 30, 1974. Accession Number: M74-340

Processing Information

Processed by Margaret Hedstrom, October 26, 1978.

Green Bay Mss 74	Series: Official Records
	Minute Books
Box   1 Folder   1-6	1877 January-1912 February
Box   2 Folder   1-7	1912 March-1936 February
Box   3 Folder   1-5	1936 February-1956 November
Box   4 Folder   1-3	1956 November-1969 September
Box   5 Folder   5	Membership Roll Book, 1906-1919
Green Bay Micro 17 Reel   1 Frame   001	Series: Scrapbook Materials, 1873-1973	⇧
Reel   1 Frame   671	Memorabilia, 1890, 1898, 1953, 1973