Trip of National Grange founder recalled in SC

LATTA, S.C. (AP) — An historic trip through rural South Carolina is being commemorated.

On Saturday, members of the Pineland Grange in Latta commemorate the 1866 trip down the Pee Dee River by Oliver Kelley.

Kelley, who went on to found the National Grange, wrote that the area was devastated by the Civil War but he also felt for the people of the area. Kelley organized the National Grange – the nation’s first agriculture society – in 1867. The Grange now has 2,100 local chapters and 160,000 members nationwide.

As part of the celebration, the Grange is holding an old-fashioned watermelon seed spitting contest. There will also be a talk by South Carolina State Grange President Jerry Martin II.