In July, 1924, George and Gladys Potter purchased a farm in Berryville, Arkansas. The image below is a copy of the warranty deed on the property. The Potters continued to work and reside in Quay, Oklahoma until sometime in 1930. The farm seems to have been a combination investment and fall-back plan and vacation spot until the Depression hit. The photos I have are, after 1924, a mix of Quay and Berryville images, all mixed together, although it is not generally too hard to tell a farm from an oil field.
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| Click to enlarge; credit: www.arcounty.data.com |
The deed shows where the farm was: in the section marked "8" in the map below for 19N/24W, in the "South half of the South east quarter" of that section and was 78 acres "more or less." Probably the area north of where Arkansas 21 turns East until it meets Osage Creek and runs south again. It is about 3 miles south of Berryville.
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| credit: Ancestry.com www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arcchs/maps/19N24W.html |
The terms of the deal are typical of 1920's real estate, from what I've read; the common mortgage then was 50% down at 6% interest with a balloon payment of the original balance after 5 years. The Potters may have gotten a slightly better deal in this seller-financed "vendor lien" paper, since the down payment looks more like 33%.
This mortgage, like most of its kind, was a disaster waiting to happen. At least the first due date on the note was lurking in July rather than in October, 1929.
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| Berryville farm view, mid-1920's |
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| Berryville Farm view, mid-1920's |
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| Osage Creek near Berryville Farm Elaine, Mary, Dorothy and David |
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