FCS Financial: One Hundred Years July 2016 | Page 27

Though the Production Credit Associations provided short-term
help for farmers, particularly critical during the Great Depression,
some farmers continued to struggle with their mortgages which,
in turn, created difficulties for the association. Still, the lenders did
their best to help the farmers. Minutes from the May 1934 meeting of
the Memphis, Missouri, National Farm Loan Association included a
fairly long list of members who had been interviewed regarding their
outstanding debts. Some pledged to make a payment within the next
thirty or sixty days; others
“personally refused to give
lease or chattel.” Either way,
the board reviewed the cases
in order to develop either “a
definite plan of settlement or
foreclosure.” Just as a matter
of interest though unrelated,
at the same meeting the board
voted to pay the directors the
modest sum of $1.50 for every
meeting they attended.

An old metal National
Farm Loan Association sign
provided by current board
member Mark Pierce.

A great deal of the dedication shared by FCS Financial’s
members, management, and staff stems from their memories and
the stories they’ve been told about the difficulties farmers endured
during the Great Depression. Billy Murphy, who believes he may be
the longest-running Production Credit member still living, was born
in Catawissa, Missouri, in 1931, the year his father went broke in the
barbershop he opened in 1920 after leaving the family farm. “A lot of
days my dad only took in 25 cents during the Great Depression and
he couldn’t make it,” Billy said. Like many other farmers of that era,
Billy’s father developed a strong aversion to borrowing money having
heard more than his share of stories of people who lost their farms
even though they owed only a few hundred dollars. Billy explained,
“He lost everything he had in the barbershop and was afraid of losing
it again.” In 1932, Billy’s father returned to the family farm where he
continued farming until his death in 1979. The banks, burdened with
foreclosed farms they couldn’t sell, struggled to survive the Great
Depression just like their customers. “In 1932 my dad had $350 in

Getting Underway

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