Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 8 · column 1 of 3 · from the scan, no model involved
And no one had any money to buy.
Miller recalled that he was executor of an estate that included a 200 acre dairy farm with main house, barns and outbuilding and two tenant houses. “We had to sell it in 1934 to settle the estate. We advertised the sale in the Rappahannock, Orange, Madison and Culpeper papers. It was a beautiful day. A handful of people came for the sale—and we had one bid for $7,500.”
The judge was asked not to confirm the sale and the property was readvertised, this time in the Washington, D.C. and Richmond papers. "It was another beautiful day. We had double the number of people—and still one bid. From the same man. He raised his offer to $10,000. In the early 1900s, that same 205 acre farm sold for over $350,000.”
That was an estate sale. There were foreclosure sales that brought the same low prices but those sales were few in this area, according to Miller. “Ranks here weren’t quick to foreclose. They did everything they could to keep from it."
The whole lending structure was different in the days of the depression, according to Miller. "Banks didn’t have installment lending for cars and such then. You borrowed money for 30, 60 or 90 days and asked for an extension at the end of that time if you couldn’t pay. Banks didn't have more than a dozen installment loans. Land was bought on one, three or five year notes with interest payments quarterly, semi-annually or annually. You had a whole year before you were late with annual interest payments. There wasn’t the drastic foreclosure rate we’d have today if people get three months behind in payments." Miller concluded.
55.5%