1926 loan collateral - farm history!

[Jeff in ND]

My aunt, age 86, recently found some papers from my grandparents. I have them for a while to copy. In many interesting things is a loan taken out by grandparents in 1926 and there is a list of the farm assets for collateral. Grandparents were renting in those years.

I think that their fortunes went downhill in the depression years and they had to move a couple times until they were able to get a loan from a relative in '39 and buy their own farm. The list of assets seems to me compared to things my late Dad told me was better than he recalled as a boy (born in '33) in the late 30s and early 40s.

The 1920 Fordson in the list below was traded in for a '36 Allis Chalmers WC in 1937. Dad told me about how when the new tractor was delivered from the truck when he was about 4yrs old. Said WC is still on the farm (bought in '39) today. I just saw it this morning when I had to go in the shed to look at something else.

BTW, interest rate on the loan was 8% This was in Renville Co, Minnesota.

Farm property list transcribed from original carbon copy of loan:

- 1 black horse, 10 yrs old, wt 1000#, named Sam
- 1 black mare, 8 yrs old, wt 1300#, named Maude
- 1 black mare, 11 yrs old, wt 1000#, named Doll
- 1 black mare, 9 yrs old, wt 1300#, named Hensel
- 1 black horse, 12 yrs old. wt 1400#, named Bill
- 1 red Shorthorn bull, 3 yrs old
- 5 Holstein cows, 4 to 8 yrs old
- 2 roan cows, 7 yrs old
- 2 roan cows, 5 yrs old
- 1 Jersey cow, 7 yrs old
- 2 red and white cows, 4 and 8 yrs old
- 1 red cow 3 yrs old
- 1 roan heifer 2 yrs old
- 1 white steer 2 yrs old
- 1 red heifer calf
- 6 Poland China sows weighing about 500 lbs each
- 70 spring shoats averaging about 150 lbs each
- 25 fall pigs
- 1 Bradley corn planter
- 1 Primrose cream separator
- 1 Avery 6 shovel corn plow
- 1 Bailer 2 row cultivator
- 1 Keystone 8 ft disc
- 1 – 5 sect drag.
- 1 Wimner fanning mill
- 1 Fairbanks Morse gas engine 1-1/2 H.
- 1 Deering 8 ft. binder.
- 1 Kentucky 18 double disc drill
- 1 Osborne 10 ft rake
- 2 hay racks
- 1 Clover Leaf manure spreader
- 1 McCormick 8 ft mower
- 1 Janesville gang plow
- 1 1920 Fordson tractor with 2 bottom plow
- 1 Northwestern wide tired wagon with triple box
- 1 wide tired wagon with triple box
- 4 sets of harnesses
- 2 McCormick corn binder.
- 1200 bu of corn in crib
- 1500 bu of oats in bin.

 

[Russ from MN]

8% interest rate, people would complain about that now! What did they buy with the money they borrowed?

 

[Mark Poss]

Very detailed list of assets. Thanks for posting.

 

[Jeff in ND]

8% interest rate, people would complain about that now! What did they buy with the money they borrowed?

Nothing specific mentioned. Seems to be a operating loan. Grandparents were never too prosperous. They were renting land and lived on the rented building site.

 

[dlbuck]

My aunt, age 86, recently found some papers from my grandparents. I have them for a while to copy. In many interesting things is a loan taken out by grandparents in 1926 and there is a list of the farm assets for collateral. Grandparents were renting in those years.

I think that their fortunes went downhill in the depression years and they had to move a couple times until they were able to get a loan from a relative in '39 and buy their own farm. The list of assets seems to me compared to things my late Dad told me was better than he recalled as a boy (born in '33) in the late 30s and early 40s.

The 1920 Fordson in the list below was traded in for a '36 Allis Chalmers WC in 1937. Dad told me about how when the new tractor was delivered from the truck when he was about 4yrs old. Said WC is still on the farm (bought in '39) today. I just saw it this morning when I had to go in the shed to look at something else.

BTW, interest rate on the loan was 8% This was in Renville Co, Minnesota.

Farm property list transcribed from original carbon copy of loan:

- 1 black horse, 10 yrs old, wt 1000#, named Sam
- 1 black mare, 8 yrs old, wt 1300#, named Maude
- 1 black mare, 11 yrs old, wt 1000#, named Doll
- 1 black mare, 9 yrs old, wt 1300#, named Hensel
- 1 black horse, 12 yrs old. wt 1400#, named Bill
- 1 red Shorthorn bull, 3 yrs old
- 5 Holstein cows, 4 to 8 yrs old
- 2 roan cows, 7 yrs old
- 2 roan cows, 5 yrs old
- 1 Jersey cow, 7 yrs old
- 2 red and white cows, 4 and 8 yrs old
- 1 red cow 3 yrs old
- 1 roan heifer 2 yrs old
- 1 white steer 2 yrs old
- 1 red heifer calf
- 6 Poland China sows weighing about 500 lbs each
- 70 spring shoats averaging about 150 lbs each
- 25 fall pigs
- 1 Bradley corn planter
- 1 Primrose cream separator
- 1 Avery 6 shovel corn plow
- 1 Bailer 2 row cultivator
- 1 Keystone 8 ft disc
- 1 – 5 sect drag.
- 1 Wimner fanning mill
- 1 Fairbanks Morse gas engine 1-1/2 H.
- 1 Deering 8 ft. binder.
- 1 Kentucky 18 double disc drill
- 1 Osborne 10 ft rake
- 2 hay racks
- 1 Clover Leaf manure spreader
- 1 McCormick 8 ft mower
- 1 Janesville gang plow
- 1 1920 Fordson tractor with 2 bottom plow
- 1 Northwestern wide tired wagon with triple box
- 1 wide tired wagon with triple box
- 4 sets of harnesses
- 2 McCormick corn binder.
- 1200 bu of corn in crib
- 1500 bu of oats in bin.

Those are some pretty big sows. maybe common size for the times.

 

[Not db4600]

My aunt, age 86, recently found some papers from my grandparents. I have them for a while to copy. In many interesting things is a loan taken out by grandparents in 1926 and there is a list of the farm assets for collateral. Grandparents were renting in those years.

I think that their fortunes went downhill in the depression years and they had to move a couple times until they were able to get a loan from a relative in '39 and buy their own farm. The list of assets seems to me compared to things my late Dad told me was better than he recalled as a boy (born in '33) in the late 30s and early 40s.

The 1920 Fordson in the list below was traded in for a '36 Allis Chalmers WC in 1937. Dad told me about how when the new tractor was delivered from the truck when he was about 4yrs old. Said WC is still on the farm (bought in '39) today. I just saw it this morning when I had to go in the shed to look at something else.

BTW, interest rate on the loan was 8% This was in Renville Co, Minnesota.

Farm property list transcribed from original carbon copy of loan:

- 1 black horse, 10 yrs old, wt 1000#, named Sam
- 1 black mare, 8 yrs old, wt 1300#, named Maude
- 1 black mare, 11 yrs old, wt 1000#, named Doll
- 1 black mare, 9 yrs old, wt 1300#, named Hensel
- 1 black horse, 12 yrs old. wt 1400#, named Bill
- 1 red Shorthorn bull, 3 yrs old
- 5 Holstein cows, 4 to 8 yrs old
- 2 roan cows, 7 yrs old
- 2 roan cows, 5 yrs old
- 1 Jersey cow, 7 yrs old
- 2 red and white cows, 4 and 8 yrs old
- 1 red cow 3 yrs old
- 1 roan heifer 2 yrs old
- 1 white steer 2 yrs old
- 1 red heifer calf
- 6 Poland China sows weighing about 500 lbs each
- 70 spring shoats averaging about 150 lbs each
- 25 fall pigs
- 1 Bradley corn planter
- 1 Primrose cream separator
- 1 Avery 6 shovel corn plow
- 1 Bailer 2 row cultivator
- 1 Keystone 8 ft disc
- 1 – 5 sect drag.
- 1 Wimner fanning mill
- 1 Fairbanks Morse gas engine 1-1/2 H.
- 1 Deering 8 ft. binder.
- 1 Kentucky 18 double disc drill
- 1 Osborne 10 ft rake
- 2 hay racks
- 1 Clover Leaf manure spreader
- 1 McCormick 8 ft mower
- 1 Janesville gang plow
- 1 1920 Fordson tractor with 2 bottom plow
- 1 Northwestern wide tired wagon with triple box
- 1 wide tired wagon with triple box
- 4 sets of harnesses
- 2 McCormick corn binder.
- 1200 bu of corn in crib
- 1500 bu of oats in bin.

Pa told stories of the transition from horses to tractors. He also lamented about the Fordson. The one I recall as funny was him saying “if grandpa wanted to grind feed on Tuesday they would have to start a corn cob fire under it on Sunday”. This was in the warm months.

 

[J Wendt]

My mother said her Dad had a pasture outside of town where he kept horses he trade in on tractors. He was a JD dealer in NW IA , he died in 53. I wish I had been smart enough to ask more questions from Mom and her older brother. Too late now. Their is so much history and stories that are gone forever.

 

[cleddy]

My aunt, age 86, recently found some papers from my grandparents. I have them for a while to copy. In many interesting things is a loan taken out by grandparents in 1926 and there is a list of the farm assets for collateral. Grandparents were renting in those years.

I think that their fortunes went downhill in the depression years and they had to move a couple times until they were able to get a loan from a relative in '39 and buy their own farm. The list of assets seems to me compared to things my late Dad told me was better than he recalled as a boy (born in '33) in the late 30s and early 40s.

The 1920 Fordson in the list below was traded in for a '36 Allis Chalmers WC in 1937. Dad told me about how when the new tractor was delivered from the truck when he was about 4yrs old. Said WC is still on the farm (bought in '39) today. I just saw it this morning when I had to go in the shed to look at something else.

BTW, interest rate on the loan was 8% This was in Renville Co, Minnesota.

Farm property list transcribed from original carbon copy of loan:

- 1 black horse, 10 yrs old, wt 1000#, named Sam
- 1 black mare, 8 yrs old, wt 1300#, named Maude
- 1 black mare, 11 yrs old, wt 1000#, named Doll
- 1 black mare, 9 yrs old, wt 1300#, named Hensel
- 1 black horse, 12 yrs old. wt 1400#, named Bill
- 1 red Shorthorn bull, 3 yrs old
- 5 Holstein cows, 4 to 8 yrs old
- 2 roan cows, 7 yrs old
- 2 roan cows, 5 yrs old
- 1 Jersey cow, 7 yrs old
- 2 red and white cows, 4 and 8 yrs old
- 1 red cow 3 yrs old
- 1 roan heifer 2 yrs old
- 1 white steer 2 yrs old
- 1 red heifer calf
- 6 Poland China sows weighing about 500 lbs each
- 70 spring shoats averaging about 150 lbs each
- 25 fall pigs
- 1 Bradley corn planter
- 1 Primrose cream separator
- 1 Avery 6 shovel corn plow
- 1 Bailer 2 row cultivator
- 1 Keystone 8 ft disc
- 1 – 5 sect drag.
- 1 Wimner fanning mill
- 1 Fairbanks Morse gas engine 1-1/2 H.
- 1 Deering 8 ft. binder.
- 1 Kentucky 18 double disc drill
- 1 Osborne 10 ft rake
- 2 hay racks
- 1 Clover Leaf manure spreader
- 1 McCormick 8 ft mower
- 1 Janesville gang plow
- 1 1920 Fordson tractor with 2 bottom plow
- 1 Northwestern wide tired wagon with triple box
- 1 wide tired wagon with triple box
- 4 sets of harnesses
- 2 McCormick corn binder.
- 1200 bu of corn in crib
- 1500 bu of oats in bin.

 

[cleddy]

Your Grandparents appear to be pretty wealthy considering all the property they owned!! I found a list from my Grandparent that was maybe a 1/4 of that amount of machinery, livestock and personal property.(no tractor-just horses-cows-chickens-pig or two) They did own some land which was passed down in the family. Only problem was when they needed a loan to put a crop in they had to put the farm up as collateral and sign the deed over and then got it released when the crop came in and the loan repaid. Usually the amount were just enough and small?? I heard they lived mostly off the food they could raise on the farm and very few groceries from the store??

 

[MSD]

My Grandpa bought a farm from the railroad for $30 some dollars an acre and lost it cause he couldn't pay for it. He later bought it back and it is still in the family now yet.

 

[Jeff in ND]

Your Grandparents appear to be pretty wealthy considering all the property they owned!! I found a list from my Grandparent that was maybe a 1/4 of that amount of machinery, livestock and personal property.(no tractor-just horses-cows-chickens-pig or two) They did own some land which was passed down in the family. Only problem was when they needed a loan to put a crop in they had to put the farm up as collateral and sign the deed over and then got it released when the crop came in and the loan repaid. Usually the amount were just enough and small?? I heard they lived mostly off the food they could raise on the farm and very few groceries from the store??

Yeah, this is more than I expected. Grandpa was 30 and grandma 29 in '26. The next year they had a child, who died at 4 mo and that seems to have hit grandpa hard and he suffered from mental health issues for years where his ability to work really hard was affected. Nowadays they would have some help for it. They had another child in '29 and then the depression kicked in. My dad was born in '33 and told many tales of hardship and how broke they were as renters and having to pick up and move farms every few years so never able to get anything established. I know of at least 3 places they rented from '21 to '39. Packing up and moving all your stuff in the spring before planting would be a huge disruption. A relative of grandma loaned them money in '39 to buy their own farm and it was for sure not prime land. What they were renting when this list was compiled would have been much better than what they had later. They were doing somewhat better right after WW2 but then the 50s were mediocre when my dad came of age. Never enough cash flow to really make large improvements.

 

[old-9]

Reminds me that somewhere I have the clerks hand written record of my grandparents sale. From when they moved to town. Had listing like one harness $1.25,,red pig $1.50. I will try to find it and post. more history. joe

 

[petertay]

I am not farm raised, but in 1993 we bought 100 acres, mostly pasture. I soon went to the sales barn and bought a trailer-load of calves (Even though there was only about $100 in my checking account.). On the way home I stopped by the bank and told them I had just bought $6,000 worth of calves and needed a loan. I was naive enough to think it would be against my good signature, even though, being new to the area, the banker did not know us. I had to turn over the title to the farm !! Fortunately, it got paid off in the fall when the calves went back through the same auction barn.

 

[Leroy]

My aunt, age 86, recently found some papers from my grandparents. I have them for a while to copy. In many interesting things is a loan taken out by grandparents in 1926 and there is a list of the farm assets for collateral. Grandparents were renting in those years.

I think that their fortunes went downhill in the depression years and they had to move a couple times until they were able to get a loan from a relative in '39 and buy their own farm. The list of assets seems to me compared to things my late Dad told me was better than he recalled as a boy (born in '33) in the late 30s and early 40s.

The 1920 Fordson in the list below was traded in for a '36 Allis Chalmers WC in 1937. Dad told me about how when the new tractor was delivered from the truck when he was about 4yrs old. Said WC is still on the farm (bought in '39) today. I just saw it this morning when I had to go in the shed to look at something else.

BTW, interest rate on the loan was 8% This was in Renville Co, Minnesota.

Farm property list transcribed from original carbon copy of loan:

- 1 black horse, 10 yrs old, wt 1000#, named Sam
- 1 black mare, 8 yrs old, wt 1300#, named Maude
- 1 black mare, 11 yrs old, wt 1000#, named Doll
- 1 black mare, 9 yrs old, wt 1300#, named Hensel
- 1 black horse, 12 yrs old. wt 1400#, named Bill
- 1 red Shorthorn bull, 3 yrs old
- 5 Holstein cows, 4 to 8 yrs old
- 2 roan cows, 7 yrs old
- 2 roan cows, 5 yrs old
- 1 Jersey cow, 7 yrs old
- 2 red and white cows, 4 and 8 yrs old
- 1 red cow 3 yrs old
- 1 roan heifer 2 yrs old
- 1 white steer 2 yrs old
- 1 red heifer calf
- 6 Poland China sows weighing about 500 lbs each
- 70 spring shoats averaging about 150 lbs each
- 25 fall pigs
- 1 Bradley corn planter
- 1 Primrose cream separator
- 1 Avery 6 shovel corn plow
- 1 Bailer 2 row cultivator
- 1 Keystone 8 ft disc
- 1 – 5 sect drag.
- 1 Wimner fanning mill
- 1 Fairbanks Morse gas engine 1-1/2 H.
- 1 Deering 8 ft. binder.
- 1 Kentucky 18 double disc drill
- 1 Osborne 10 ft rake
- 2 hay racks
- 1 Clover Leaf manure spreader
- 1 McCormick 8 ft mower
- 1 Janesville gang plow
- 1 1920 Fordson tractor with 2 bottom plow
- 1 Northwestern wide tired wagon with triple box
- 1 wide tired wagon with triple box
- 4 sets of harnesses
- 2 McCormick corn binder.
- 1200 bu of corn in crib
- 1500 bu of oats in bin.

One thing, Please check closly on the orignal to see if you read the McCormick Mower size to see if you are reading it correctly as they never made an 8 foot mower. They made only 4.5, 5, 6 & 7 foot mowers. Very easily to mistake a porly writen 5, 6 or 7 for an 8.

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

I am not farm raised, but in 1993 we bought 100 acres, mostly pasture. I soon went to the sales barn and bought a trailer-load of calves (Even though there was only about $100 in my checking account.). On the way home I stopped by the bank and told them I had just bought $6,000 worth of calves and needed a loan. I was naive enough to think it would be against my good signature, even though, being new to the area, the banker did not know us. I had to turn over the title to the farm !! Fortunately, it got paid off in the fall when the calves went back through the same auction barn.

How times have changed. Farm loans may still be tough to get, but developers go to the bank and get millions with just a signature....

 

[Jeff in ND]

One thing, Please check closly on the orignal to see if you read the McCormick Mower size to see if you are reading it correctly as they never made an 8 foot mower. They made only 4.5, 5, 6 & 7 foot mowers. Very easily to mistake a porly writen 5, 6 or 7 for an 8.

Yes, I thought the same that 8' was pretty large for what was almost certainly a horse drawn mower. They were still using a horse drawn mower in the 40s from other information I have. On closer inspection, its probably 5'. This is a carbon copy of a typed form. I compared the "8" and "5" on several spots and the one regards the mower is probably not a "8".