Ashville Grange No. 694

Article from the Jamestown Post-Journal, Thursday evening, August 29, 1948

History of the Ashville Grange by Mrs. Lloyd in August 1946:

"The Ashville Grange was first organized in 1875 and as the records must have been lost, nothing could be found until the reorganization June 24,1890 by State Master Walter Gifford with thirty charter members and A. W. Stoddard as the first Worthy Master. Of these charter members, none is living. The meetings were held upstairs in the then flourishing hotel of Charles Scofield now owned by Mrs. Eliza Abbott An interesting fact has been told. Mrs. Davis, who with her husband Charles, had a store and living rooms down stairs and as her living room was directly under the Grange rooms, she could hear all that was said and done upstairs. There was a law then that no storekeeper could belong to the Grange. But they figured as long as Mrs. Davis knew what was going on. she might as well be a member. So in 1884, Mrs. Davis was taken into the Grange and has been a faithful member for all these fifty-two years. The next home of the Grange was upstairs over the Ticknor Undertaking Rooms, now Lloyd's store. This building burned in 1911 and a new home had to be found at once.

A lot was bought from Isaiah Carpenter for $300 and it was voted to erect a building not to cost over $2,000. That was the present building, the same then as now except for some improvements through the years. An unfortunate event took place in September 1916 when the Grange held a large fair on the Butts and Lowe property. Rainy weather and several other reasons made this a financial failure indebting the Grange $423.90 - So a new mortgage of $1,900 had to be taken to cover this sum and the old mortgage. By March, 1934, the principal had been reduced to $750 and the mortgage was taken over by Fred Johnson. A very impressive ceremony was held Oct. 24, 1944. when this debt was paid and the mortgage burned.

The first meeting in the new hall was June 18, 1912 and the dedication was July 12 with Mrs. Harry Bouton as worthy master. This affair was attended by over four hundred members and friends who mostly came by horse and buggies and by train.

The name of the Harmony Grange was changed to Ashville Grange January 16, 1918. A ladies aid was organized in 1917 and was very active for years, making sizable amounts of money by their activities. This they gave for expenses when needed and at one time in 1926, paid of a $300 mortgage to Green Brothers [Lumber company] In later years, this Aid was disbanded.

A Juvenile Grange was organized in March, 1940 with Mrs. Harold Davis as matron. This was active for several years but at present does not meet. If it does not revive within seven years after the last meeting, it will then, according to the Grange law, be disbanded.

Memorial services were conducted quite regularly up to 1927 and then for 14 years, no memorial service was held though the charter had been draped up to June, 1936 with 96 members.

The first man from Ashville Grange to die in World War I was Vincent Moore. A memorial program was held Jun 17, 1918 when a tree was planted on the Grange lawn in his memory.

During World War II, the Grange members showed their patriotism in various ways. They donated to the Honor Roll, Red Cross, Loan Closet, sold war stamps, bought thousands of dollars worth of war bonds and observed and helped with blackouts and gathered scrap iron. They bought their ownHonor Roll and have 10 names of members written thereon. They voted to co-operate with the Fire Department in any way in making a permanent Memorial Park.

So for 71 years, the Harmony, now Ashville Grange, has been an important organization in the growth and development of Ashville. We hope tht when the 100th anniversary is celebrated that its honorable record will still be as worthy as of today, August 27, 1946.

Taken from the History of the Town of North Harmony, Vols. 1 and 2 by Floyd R. Darrow:

 "Mrs. Kate Bly, long a resident of Ashville and former Secretary of the Grange, tells me that she and the late Will Bly were married in 1884. For a year, they lived with his people two and a half miles south of Panama, following which they moved to South Dakota where they remained for six years. When they returned in 1891, the Grange was meeting on the upper floor of Cornelius Abbott’s Hotel and later moved to the second floor of Norman Ticknor’s undertaking shop, which stood where Clayton Lloyd’s store does now.

Further information was supplied by Ed Butts, who says that Mr. Ticknor’s shop burned in 1902. However, it was soon rebuilt and the Grange once more occupied the second floor. By some unusual legal arrangement, it seems that the Grange actually owned this upper floor. In any case, when the John W. Coburn store, now the Wellman and Loomis store, burned in 1911, the Ticknor shop burned again. And for a time the Grange met in the M. E. Church, the early building which preceded the present structure, built in 1913. The Ashville Grange Hall of today was erected in 1912. (2021 – Ashville Free Library)