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Oliver Hudson Kelley (January 7, 1826 – January 20, 1913) was one of the key founders of theNational Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, a fraternal organization in the United States.[1]
Kelley was born inBoston, Massachusetts, on January 7, 1826.
In 1849, he moved to theMinnesota frontier, where he became a farmer. In 1864, he got a job as a clerk for theUnited States Bureau of Agriculture and traveled the Eastern and Southern United States following theAmerican Civil War. He felt a great need to gather together farmers and their families to rebuild America as he once knew it, and thought anorganization of fraternal strength would best serve the needs of the farm families.
As he traveled throughout the country, Kelley built partnerships that developed into the seven original founders of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. On November 15, 1867, he laid the groundwork to build a new foundation for Americanagriculture through the organization of the Grange, of which he was the first secretary until he resigned in 1878.
The other founders of the Grange wereWilliam Saunders,Francis M. McDowell,John Trimble,Aaron B. Grosh,John R. Thompson,William M. Ireland, and Kelley's nieceCaroline A. Hall.
Kelley was inducted into theNational Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame on October 27, 2006.Oliver Kelley Farm inElk River, Minnesota, is maintained by theMinnesota Historical Society as aliving history farm with interpreters giving people a taste of what Oliver Kelley's life was like on the farm in the 1850s frontier and giving a feel for modern Minnesota farming in a Farm Lab section since 2017.
In 1877, Kelley founded the town ofCarrabelle, Florida, which he named for his niece.
oliver Hudson kelley 1826.- See especially page 6 and pages 315 – 317.
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