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Along the Way... The Grange and the U.S. Postal Service
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By Norman Houser Author, The Pennsylvania Rambler www.thepennsylvaniarambler.com
While many states have remembered the first Rural Free Delivery (RFD) services with a simple historical marker, the residents of Climax, Michigan, erected a grand monument to remember the arrival of Rural Free Delivery to their community.
The monument, which is located along North Main Street, sits in a small park with other memorials to the community’s veterans. The 10-foot-tall monument, which originally sat in the middle of the intersection of Main and Maple Streets, was erected with 238 stones – one from each farm on the original RFD routes.
Dedicated on July 26, 1917, on each side of the monument rests a bronze plaque recognizing the efforts of those who brought RFD to Climax: the Michigan State Grange, the D.A.R., the Michigan Rural Letter Carriers Association and the Climax Men’s Fellowship Club. The plaque on the northern face of the monument reads:
The first Congressional appropriation to try the experiment of delivering mail to farmers' homes was secured through the strenuous efforts of the national and state Granges in 1896. The amount was 40,000.00 dollars.
This tablet erected by Michigan State Grange, 1917. Monument Construction Committee:Frank L. WillisonWilliam H. SheldonSimeon E. Ewing
It is easy to take the U.S. Postal Service for granted, as we expect packages and letters in our mailboxes every day. However, 125 years ago, many people would not have received their mail daily. Those living in rural areas would make the trip to town to pick up and drop off their mail, not at a post office, but at the general store or inn.
In 1893, the National Grange took a strong stance on the postal system, which would change mail delivery forever. The question addressed was: “If mail was being delivered to the homes of those living in cities, then why can’t it be delivered to the homes of those living on farms?” Farmers had to drive the distance to the nearest post office to pick up their mail.
Among the first to suggest RFD was Milton Trusler, an Indiana farmer and Master (President) of his local Grange, and later President of the Indiana State Grange, who began pushing for rural delivery service as early as 1880. Trusler would also later serve as State Representative and Senator. The National Grange would support this idea and help make RFD a reality.
Two additional Grangers who led the way for postal reform were National Lecturer and New Jersey State Grange Master (President) Mortimer Whitehead and Pennsylvania State Grange Master (President) Leonard Rhone, who would later serve on the National Grange Executive Committee. Both appeared before Congressional committees to voice the importance of RFD. The idea was not popular at first; local businesses complained that RFD would hurt their businesses as farmers no longer had to come to town.
Due to the testimony of Rhone and Whitehead, Congress designated a small amount of funding, so on October 1, 1896, RFD was introduced in a handful of West Virginia towns for a trial. Soon after, other states began experimenting with RFD, and on December 3, 1896, Climax, Michigan, received Michigan’s first RFD service, with mail being delivered by both bicycle and horse and buggy. While Climax saw Michigan’s first RFD, it would not be until almost two years later, May 1898, when the second RFD service was established in Ridgeway.
In 1898, there was an attempt to remove funding for RFD. National Master (President) Aaron Jones and National Executive Committee Chairperson J.H. Brigham appeared before Congress to retain the funding of RFD. Not only were the funds restored, but they were increased, establishing RFD as a permanent part of the postal system. By December 30, 1899, Carroll County, Maryland became the first county with RFD to all residents within its borders.
Beginning July 1, 1902, RFD became a permanent service. The service was still known as Rural Free Delivery until 1906, when the word “Free” was dropped, and it became known as Rural Delivery, since it was understood by all that the service was free.
While simple markers remember the first RFD services across the nation, the memorial in Climax continues to not only remember Michigan’s first RFD service, but also those who supported the effort and the regional families who benefited from the service.
Although mail was being delivered to rural America, and the Grange had achieved one of its key goals, the Grange continued to push for reform within the postal system. Due to efforts by the Grange, on January 1, 1913, the first parcel post law was passed. Farmers could now afford to have packages delivered directly to them, and could also mail goods from their farm to other places at an affordable rate.
