William Saunders

William Saunders

Serving as the first Master (President) of the National Grange, William Saunders (1822 – 1900) also became the first "Secretary of Agriculture", a seat on the President's Cabinet fought for by the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. He also aided in the introduction of the Navel Orange to California agriculture. One of two remaining original trees stands in the Mission Courtyard in Riverside.

An ardent botanist, he designed the cemetery at Gettysburg, for which the Gettysburg Address was written by President Lincoln as a dedication ode to those interred there. Saunders had been previously appointed to Superintendent of the Propagating Gardens in the Department of Agriculture, where he developed hundreds of plants, trees and shrubs that are grown throughout the United States.

The other founders of the Grange were: Oliver Hudson Kelley, Francis M. McDowell, John Trimble, Aaron B. Grosh, John R. Thompson, William M. Ireland and Caroline A. Hall.

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