The Magnolia Grange #179 was organized on February 13, 1873, at the Clear Creek School in Magnolia Township of Putnam County. The Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, was a national fraternal organization with its major purpose being the advancement of agriculture and the interests of those people pursuing the vocation.

The first membership consisted of both women and men. They were Master John Swaney, secretary Amos B. Wilson, Thomas Flower, Sarah Swaney, David Swaney, Mary Ann Swaney, Anna Morris, Sarah Hoyle, Pusey Mills, Joseph Mills, Oliver Wilson, Oliver Smith, Gustav Otto, Louis Beck and a few more local citizens. Several of their descendants still live in this area.

In the 1880s, the Grange operated a store where staples were sold. This merchandise was brought from the Illinois Central Railroad at Tonica by the U.S. Mail Service. The merchandise included binder twine, feed, flour, maple syrup and dried fruits. From 1882 until 1922, Magnolia Grange ran an annual agricultural fair, which became one of the major attractions of the entire area. In 1922, the Grange Fair was discontinued and its members devoted their energies to the newly-organized Marshall-Putnam Fair. The Grange held dances, suppers, plays and lectures providing good and wholesome entertainment for the community.

A male quartet was composed of Bob Whitney, Maurice McGhiey, Rich Forney and Harold Carr. This group won honors at the National Grange, held in Vermont in the 1980s. One of its charter members, Oliver Wilson, became Master of the National Grange. Here is a partial list of the Magnolia Grange’s past masters.

There have been 55 masters from the beginning until 2002: John Swaney, Oliver Wilson, Henry C. Mills, James Taggart, Oliver Smith, Amos Wilson, Walter G. Griffith, John N. Wilson, Oscar Bumgarner, George Bell, Frank Smith, Willis Mills, James McNabb, Ed Gunn, Will Bumgarner, Ernest Mills, Laura Smith, Ralph Wilson, J. Turner Mills, Andrew J. Wolf, Burdette Griffith, Art Wilson, Conrad Kessler (my grandmother, Bertha Kessler Alleman was Conrad’s sister), Christian Miller, Harold Mills, Lucretia Franklin, Andrew W. Wolf, Maurice McGhiey, Walter Griffith, Francis Boyle, Bob Whitney, Howard Kinney, Shirley Glover, Richard Forney, Ed Mills, Adolph Kuhne, Elmer Knapp, Helen Jean Nelson, Mary McGhiey and James McQuilkin.

These men and women represent the diversity of leadership of this organization in the Clear Creek area over the past 130 years, as transportation facilities improved and the opportunities for recreation became more diversified, membership in Magnolia Grange declined.

The building and grounds were deeded to the Clear Creek Magnolia area Preservation Council in 2002. The organization maintained the historic old building and hosted an annual fair for several years in July. The hall has set there for several years now, without repairs. It is going to perish if it is not repaired soon. A small group of concerned Putnam County citizens are trying to form a committee to save the historical building. They include Daniel Kuhn, Terry Judd, Angie Glenn and Richard Ashdown.

We are looking for more members, donations and donated labor to at least secure this great historical building.

•••

Question: What 10 parts of the body have only three letters in their names? Please let me know if you think you know the answer. The answer will be in next week’s article.

•••

Once more our community has lost a member of the greatest generation, Jim Hubert Whitaker. I visited Jim a week before he died. I am grateful for the conversation we had. I first met Jim when he worked at the Standard Elevator with Lyle Young. I later wrote his veteran story, when he served in the United States Army at the end of World War II in occupied Japan. It was a great privilege to have known Jim.

Darrell Alleman can be reached at news@putnamcountyrecord.com.