Grange Turns 100
by Dave Perrin

The Charlotte Grange #398 was chartered 124 years after Charlotte was permanently settled in 1784. That was the year that Thomas Chittenden’s daughter, Mrs. James Hill, claimed to be the handsomest woman (and only woman) in town for three months. Early settlers were John Hills who is Vermont’s most famous early gun maker and two McNeils who started ferries in the 1790s. The current Charlotte ferry traces its roots from these ferries. One of our current members is a direct descendent of the McNeils. When the first census was taken in Charlotte in 1791, it was the most populous town in northern Vermont. Charlotte’s population peaked in 1830, began a continuous decline until 1940, and has tripled since then.
The Grange was founded in 1908 with 62 charter members. These early members had many still-familiar last names, including Bradley (2), Byington (4), Carpenter, Foote (2), Foot (3), Guilick (minister of the Congregational Church, 2), Hill (3), Horsford (4), Lewis (3), McNeil (Nancy Sabine’s grandparents, 2), Root (2), Spear (3), Williams (7). One of the Horsfords was probably the founder of F.H. Horsford Nursery, and all were probably direct descendents of the surveyor of part of Charlotte and a very early settler.
Many Charlotte Grange members have a history of long-time service. Ruth Williams received a nice write-up in the Burlington Free Press in 1983 after she had been a member for 70 years. She died 16 years later! Current members can’t claim that longevity, but 1942 was an important year. Beatrice St. George (Marble) became a member on August 4, 1942. Her husband, Ronald Marble, along with three other Marbles, became members on October 19, 1942 when they transferred from the Starksboro Grange. Nelson (Mike) Claflin was proposed for membership on September 7, 1942 and received the third and fourth degree on January 18, 1943. Bea has been a member for over 66 years. Ron and Mike have been members for almost as long, trailing Bea by just a few months.
The Charlotte Grange remains very active today. Activities include holding two rummage sales each year, maintaining the Grange Hall, participating in Charlotte’s Town Party, creating a display for and manning the Grange exhibit at the Champlain Valley Fair, presenting dictionaries to third-grade students at the Charlotte Central School, providing and putting out flags for each Charlotte war veteran on Memorial Day, sponsoring at least one candidates night each year, holding a Grange-sponsored cooking contest each year, supporting several Grange and local charities (including the Charlotte Food Shelf), providing meals, making pillow cases for hospitalized pediatric patients, giving a citizenship award each year to a deserving Charlotter, and baking cookies for people who donate at blood drives.