"This is America. We don't share land here."
---John Dutton (Kevin Costner) in "Yellowstone."
Land has long been at life's center in Washington Parish. It was at the heart of the gathering of our forefathers - the pioneers - who settled Washington Parish. Grange units played a vital role in our community during reconstruction post-Civil War. It was Dr. E. Russ Williams who elaborated on the concept in chapter twelve of his book, History of Washington Parish, Louisiana, 1798-1992 The Story Of A Land And People On Three Rivers: The Pearl, The Bogue Chitto, and The Tangipahoa in Southeast Louisiana.
Chapter twelve is entitled "The Aftermath of Reconstruction Washington Parish in the New South" - my primary source for this column.
A grange was a group of farmers who joined together, perhaps even with some secret rituals, for their common interests which included commerce and community. I have often described the little farms that were situated in Washington Parish post-Civil War as self-sustaining enterprises. In Dr. Williams's words, each was "a small self-contained village." But with family members laboring daylight to dark on the farm, there was a feeling of isolation. The main social outing was to church, and as churches met more infrequently back then - in some cases only once a month - farmers and their families were quite lonely.
Accordingly, they welcomed in the early 1870s the formation of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry units. The organization was formed in 1867 by farmer Oliver Kelley, and others. Though it generated much economic opportunity, perhaps its greatest offering was social and cultural advancement. And women were included, which was rare in that era. The main goal was to teach new farming practices and, via collaboration with other units, to basically eliminate the middlemen in manufacturing so that farm families might buy products more cheaply. But the socialization that the Grange provided was perhaps the best byproduct. The Grange was quite popular in rural America and especially in the South.
Dr. Williams explained that the ritual of the Grange required members to wear costumes. The women officers became Pomona, Ceres, Lady Assistant Steward, and Flora. The men's roles included Master, Lecturer, Steward, Assistant Steward, Overseer, Secretary, Treasurer, Chaplain, and Gate or Door Keep. Each officer played a part in the monthly meeting which took place at the Grange Hall or another meeting place.
The Silver Creek Grange, established on November 1, 1873, in the Fisher Schoolhouse was one of the first Granges in Washington Parish. Most of the membership produced cotton. According to Dr. Williams, the initial officers were "Hardy Richardson, Master; Josiah Brumfield, Overseer; John J. Slocum, Lecturer; Isaac Kemp, Steward; Edward Myles, Assistant Steward; Welcome Penny, Chaplain; David E. Bullock, Treasurer, Sanderlin Walker Bickham, Secretary; Frank M. Brown, Gate Keeper; C. J. Burch; M. N. Miller; S. H. Varnado; J. D. Carson; J. W. Bond; J. W. Crow; Jeremiah Smith; A. P. Stephens; A. G. Fussell; Emanuel Sylvest; and G. H. Crow." The ladies included "Mrs. Lucinda M. Bullock, Ceres; Miss Laura Roberts, Pomona, Mrs. Rebecca Burch, Flora; Miss Mary Bond; Lady Assistant Steward; Nancy Bullock; Sarah Jane Penny; Mrs. L. D. Magee; Fanny Thomas; and Mrs. L. Bullock."
Dr. Williams gave an interesting account of a Grange meeting held at Carter's School House on January 24, 1874. The topic at hand was the efficacy of commercial fertilizers. A committee report was given on usage and benefits, or lack thereof, which was to be published in Grange journals. While Hardy Richardson found that a fourth of his sharecroppers benefitted from his use of "Sterns & Rhodus Phosphates," H. T. Burkhalter, Welcome Penny, J. E. Foil, D. E. Bullock, J. D. Carson, Isaac Kemp, and S. W. Bickham found no such crop benefit from using "Sterns Phosphate." But Emanuel Sylvest found that his crop increased a fourth with use of "Seghers Phosphates." After using 2 tons of "Seghers" over nine acres, J. J. Slocum got a return of 8 and ½ bales of cotton weighing 425 pounds each while another 2 tons over 12 acres brought a mere 3 bales of cotton, each weighing 450 pounds. The Grange membership contrasted these results with those of John Q. Brumfield who instead used manure and pine straw around his cotton, planted over 2 acres; his yield was 3 bales weighing 400 pounds each. In light of these statistics, the Grange membership decided they could not justify any additional purchases of commercial fertilizer. They, however, did recognize the unfavorable nature of the last season for fertilizers.
The Silver Creek Grange decided in August of 1875 to construct their own meeting hall, to be situated on Faust Hill. D. E. Bullock, S. H. Varnado, S. W. Bickham, Isaac Kemp, and Emanuel Sylvest comprised the committee which selected the site for the building. A box type structure, 32 by 20 feet, it was made mostly of sawed lumber and was completed by the unit's meeting in February of 1876.
Unfortunately, I never saw this local Grange, but I did catch a glimpse of a Grange Hall on Martha's Vineyard where I journeyed last fall. Still standing off the coast of Massachusetts, it was built by the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society in 1859. And just as in Washington Parish, it was not only an agricultural and commercial hub on the island but also a gathering place for farmers and citizens.
Closer to home, a Council of Patrons was created, per recommendation of the Silver Creek Lodge, in Franklinton to govern the many Grange Lodges throughout Washington Parish. Delegates from the Silver Creek Lodge included J. J. Slocum, Isaac Kemp, S. W. Bickham, and Hardy Richardson. According to Dr. Williams, a great deal of Grange activity took place in the town of Franklinton where a lodge hall was built. In the 1870s John E. Morris was master of the lodge, and he was followed in the 1880s by J. P. Fussell.
But as Dr. Williams noted, with improvement of the farm economy by 1880, the Grange gradually lost ground, becoming inactive before 1900. Yet, it had been quite beneficial not only to the economy but to the people of our community.
