Johnson County KS Archives History - Books .....Chapter XVI The Grange 1915
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 August 24, 2008, 1:07 am

Book Title: History Of Johnson County Kansas

CHAPTER XVI.
THE GRANGE.

The Organization and Progress of the Grange in Johnson County—The Grange
Insurance Company.

  The National Grange, or Patrons of Husbandry, was organized in Washington, D.
C., December 4, 1867. Its father was O. H. Kelly, a clerk in the department of
agriculture at Washington, D. C. While on a trip in the South, gathering
statistics on rural conditions, he conceived the idea of a secret society for
farmers, for the protection and advancement of their interests, with the result
that the above organization was made.

  Gardner Grange, No. 68, organized in 1873, was the first Grange organized in
Johnson county. During this year, and the first few months of 1874, thirty-six
Granges were organized, with a membership of 1,200. The Johnson County
Co-Operation Association was organized in July, 1876, with a capital stock of
$900, with II. C. Livermore, manager. In 1882 the capital stock was increased to
$40,000 and later, 1883, to $100,000, and in 1914, when the Edgerton store was
sold it was reduced to $85,000, where it remains at present.

  On Saturday evening, November 7, 1903, the main building at Olathe burned
down, and the entire stock of goods was destroyed. The next day the directors
met and decided to go ahead, and a new building was completed on the old site,
in 1904. It is a two-story structure, 125 feet front and 143 feet deep. In the
spring of 1884, by action of the association, a printing department was
established, which published the Kansas "Patron," a weekly paper under the
supervision of George Black, the secretary of the State Grange. This paper
continued until the burning of the store in 1903, when it was discontinued. Mr.
Black was for twenty-five years the secretary of the State Grange, and much of
its value as a progressive organization for the betterment of rural communities
was due to his ability and efficiency. For a number of years the Grange had
branch stores at Edgerton, Gardner, Prairie Center and Stanley, but these
proving unprofitable have been disposed of, the one at Edgerton to members of
the Grange, and the others to private parties. Mr. Livermore served as manager
for thirty-two years, and was succeeded by W. W. Frye. who for many years had
been manager of the Stanley branch store. He stayed with them five years and was
succeeded by Garrett, and Mr. Garrett by Ed. Blair of Spring Hill, who was
followed by C. V. Frey, the present manager. The store at the present time
carries a stock of $50,000 and its annual sales are $150,000.

THE GRANGE INSURANCE COMPANY.

  The Patrons Fire and Tornado Association, of Kansas, was organized under a
special enactment of the legislature of Kansas, Laws of 1889, chapter 162.

  Its purpose is to carry the insurance of Kansas farmers, who are members of
the Grange, on their property against fire and lightning, tornado and wind-storm.

  The charter limits the association to members of the order of the Patrons of
Husbandry, and in territory to the State of Kansas.

  The association is not conducted for profit, but endeavors to give insurance
at cost, and is strictly mutual, all the members contributing their
proportionate share toward paying the losses and expense of management.

  The association is solvent, that is, it can stop business any day and pay back
every policy holder the unearned premium on his policy, something that it never
could have done prior to the assessment of 1913.

  The reserve fund is invested as follows:

In bonds which net the association five per cent             $35,800.00
On certificate of deposit at four per cent                    17,918.54
Interest collected on reserve funds                            1,545.17

This association, on December, 31, 1914, had a total
        insurance in force of                            $19,780,841.00
December 31, 1913                                         18,184,198.00
                                                        _______________
                                                          $1,596,643.00
Total insurance expiring in 1913 deducted from 1914          141,400.00
Net gain during the year 1914                             $1,738,043.00
Balance in treasury December 31, 1913                        $55,904.39
Received in premiums           $ 35,571.78
Received in interest              1,545.17
                                                             $37,116.95
Total                                                        $93,021.34

  This company was organized in 1889 in the Olathe Grange Hall, and the writer,
then living at Cadmus, was present. Several meetings had been called, but enough
policies could not be gotten together to total $50,000 risk, the amount required
to make the start. A motion was made that each one of the seventeen members
present stand for an assessment of $1,000, in case it should be needed, as this,
with $33,000 in applications, would equalize the assessment on the policies
applied for. The motion was carried and the policies issued. If I remember
right, we had $400,000.00 of risks before we had a loss, and this was a slight
one. I. D. Hibner, the secretary, was an enthusiast and kept the mails warm to
the agents of the Grange in different parts of the State, urging them to hustle
for business, and they did. After the first assessment there was no question as
to the stability of the new insurance company, for the members responded quickly
and without friction. The association now has a neat and commodious fireproof
building, in which it conducts its business and keeps its records. This company
is now under the supervision of John Thorn, secretary, a most reliable and
efficient man, with his able assistant, W. S. Whitford. W. C. Brown, of
Monticello township, is its president and a thoroughly capable and wideawake man.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF Johnson County Kansas
BY
ED BLAIR

AUTHOR OF
Kansas Zephyrs, Sunflower Sittings and Other Poems and Sketches

IN ONE VOLUME

ILLUSTRATED
STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
1915


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