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FATHER GEORGE NELL AND MOTHER 

 "Why Wouldn't I Be For th« Farm Bureau." 



Likes 

 People 



ISLAND GROVE CHURCH 

 "at the cronroads (wo mllat off tha gravel.' 



^^^^ HE Probst farm was about to 

 ^~-^ be sold. 



^J The creditors had gotten the 



court order and the sheriff was on the 

 way out to give notification. There was 

 $7,000 due. Not a great amount in 

 good times but with corn at 10 cents and 

 oats about half as much, it looked hope- 

 less for the Widow Probst and her chil- 

 dren. At least it looked hopeless to 

 everyone except Father George Nell. 



As well informed on farm economics 

 and the trend of agricultural affairs as a 

 top-notch county farm adviser, Father 

 Nell figured there was a way out. He 

 had known Joe Probst and his family for 

 years. The Probsts resided in Father 

 Nell's island Grove parish in northwest 

 Jasper county. Joe was known as a big, 

 successful farm operator. His case was 

 typical of many. He inherited some land 

 about the time he married and started 

 farming. As the family 

 grew, he and the boys 

 could easily operate a larg- 

 er acreage. So he bought 

 more land, rented addi- 

 tional acres and purchased 

 a tractor and power ma- 

 chinery to do the work. 

 Probst went in debt for 

 the land and machinery. 

 He was rated a money- 

 maker and had little dif- 

 ficulty in getting credit. 



Then came 1932 and 

 the crash in farm prices. 

 Joe Probst developed a 

 malignant growth from 

 which he died suddenly. 

 Life insurance would have 

 paid the mortgage but 

 there wasn't any. 



"I happened to meet 

 Jrtie sheriff the day he was 

 going oyt to notify Mrs. Probst of the 

 court action, " Father Nell said. "I talked 



Father George Nell Knows How To Get Folks 

 To Work Together . . . And He's K Booster 

 For The Farm Bureau i. 



to the sheriff and asked him to hold off 

 a few days. He consented, turned around 

 and went back to town. 



"I got the names of the creditors and 

 called them together. I knew that the 

 Farm Bureau had been working for the 

 Triple A program, more liberal credits 

 and the corn loan. I felt that relief was 

 on the way. I also knew what some of 

 the creditors did not know — that the 

 Probsts had stored their grain when the 

 market went to pieces. They had around 

 5,000 bushels of corn stored in a big 

 new crib; they had a lot of soybeans, 

 wheat and oats, too, that were being held 

 for better prices. 



"We told the creditors (Father Nell 

 was a member of the county debt concilia- 

 tion committee) that they could do one 

 of two things; let the sale proceed and 



ISLAND GROVE COMMUNITY HALL 

 "Where Music and Laughter Ring Out." 



take a substantial loss, or let the mortgage 

 ri^e, take no loss, and cut the interest 



rate. They chose to take no loss and 

 reduce the interest. 



"Well, everyone now knows what hap- 

 pened. The lAA helped us get the com 

 loan. Things started upward in late 

 1933 and 1934 with the result that Mrs. 

 Probst sold her corn at prices ranging 

 from 70 to 90 cents a bushel. Same way 

 with soybeans and wheat. They were 

 closed out at good prices and the money 

 was applied on the debt. Today that 

 mortgage has been whittled down from 

 17,000 to less than $1,500. One forty 

 was sold but the family has 180 acres of 

 good land almost clear." 



Father George Nell is probably the 

 best know rural clergyman in Illinois. 

 He is broad-minded, well-informed, un- 

 selfish, and utterly devoted to the inter- 

 ests of farmers. He is a Catholic priest 

 but he works as well with 

 the Lutherans, Methodists, 

 and Baptists in Jasper, Ef- 

 fingham and other south- 

 em Illinois counties as 

 with those of his own 

 faith. Bliss Joy, former 

 president of the Effingham 

 County Farm Bureau, a 

 Methodist and a Mason, 

 will tell you that Father 

 Nell undoubtedly did 

 more and worked harder 

 for the Sanitary Milk Pro- 

 ducers when they were 

 struggling for a decent 

 milk price in the St. Louis 

 milk shed, than perhaps 

 any other one man. 



During the milk strike. 



Father Nell, like Bliss Loy 



and many others, was out 



night after night speaking at milk 



producers' meetings. He it was who 



12 



L A. A. RECORD 



