up against these several parties and what "it 

 cost me both in leal money and worry and I 

 do not much wonder that men go to pieces 

 like "Whistling" Tom Me\ers and end it all. 



The first I met up with was the Smith Bros. 

 & Co. Land Co. and this was at a time when^ 

 they had associated with them the first four 

 m.embers of the Hoosier Land and Investment 

 Co. They sold me a farm of 21.5.04 acres of 

 land at .^7.5 per acre and afterwards when :t 

 develops that I could not pay out they tell me 

 that I should not have ovei'bought myself, and 

 thinking they will nossitaly tell you the same, 

 will say that at the time I purchased this farm 

 my brother-in-law, Mr. H. D. Cook, was living 

 and as he was worth some $.50,000 and had fur- 

 nished me the money to make my first payment 

 and had assured me he would see me through 

 on the deal, I expect you would have been like 

 me and went ahead. The real tiouble came 

 when he was killed and it was a case of close 

 up the proposition. The Smith Bros. & Co. 

 Land Co. carried my land note for $500 that 

 was given them as a part of the commission, 

 and in addition to this furnished me with $500 



anywhere from $2,150 to $4,300, had they moved 

 the property. 



Mr. C. D. Matthews, who furnished the land 

 for the deal with me as I have previously shown 

 .\ou, had a tract of land where I bought the 

 first out of, of near 1,100 acres that he, had not 

 been able to get the land companies to sell, 

 and my purchase and efforts to sell more of it 

 caused it all to be soon closed out, and from 

 a proposition of getting about .?3.50 per acre 

 lental GROSS on whatever the renter would 

 get in, to a sure return of $4.50 per acre NET 

 on whatever acreage was sold and whatever 

 improvements were made on the property, also 

 the profit he made off my trade, off of what- 

 ever accommodations he would show me in his 

 bank, off of whatever grain I raised on the 

 farm that I always sold to the Milling Com- 

 pany that he was the heaviest stockholder in, 

 and in return for all this, or rather I should 

 say on top of all this change of investment 

 to the profit side of the ledger, because I had 

 to have accommodations, he charged me $1.00 

 per chattel mortgage, when he filed them for 10 

 cents, compelled me to pay him an extia 2 



The Upkeep is What Hurts. 



more on A No. 1 security to take up a mule 

 note, and I was fast getting into their hands, 

 for these accommodations I gave them options 

 on my land for all they could get over $85 net 

 to us, trusting that they would make the prop- 

 erty move. Crops were poor. I was not mak- 

 ing hardly the interest and taxes off the land, 

 to say nothing about the payments. They 

 claimed to be at the outs with the Hoosier 

 Land and Investment Company and with A. J. 

 Matthews, but they could sell land for them, 

 but while they had unlimited sway with my 

 property yet they could not sell me" out. They 

 were asking all kinds of prices for the farm, 

 while Mr. C. D. Matthews, who held the trust 

 deed, was offering it at $80, and Mr. A. ,T. 

 Matthews was out and offered me $80, so I 

 did not know for a truth where it was going 

 to end. The Smith Company offered to stand 

 between me and the Matthews people, but what 

 was the use; they did not move the property 

 now in most two years and at the rate it was 

 eating itself up, soon there would be nothing 

 to sell and I was reallv getting desperate. I 

 would not object to, did not object to. a com- 

 mission of any amount most, but wanted out. 

 and no one was happier than I when I did get 

 out. They received their money, advanced with 

 full interest, and the opportunity of making 



per cent on whatever amounts I could, not meet 

 when due, which amounted to about $112.00, 

 so that he would not enforce the conditions of 

 the DEED OF TRUST. 



The Hoosier Land ^nd Investment Company 

 at the time of their organization was composed 

 of Wm. A. White, W. P. Lindley, E. .J. Keith, 

 .1. F. Cox and interests were afterward sold to 

 Dr. Dunaway of West Lebanon, Ind., and .7. W. 

 Black of Indiana, and my dealings with the 

 firm began when they were yet interested with 

 the Smith Bros. & Co. Land Company, in fact 

 Mr. Cox showed us the farm that we afterward 

 purchased and Mr. White diew up the con- 

 tracts. Then when they withdrew from the 

 parent company, and at a time when I was not 

 tied up with the Smiths they had my land for 

 sale, but at that time they could not, or at 

 least did not, sell it, although they sold several 

 pieces of land in my neighborhood. When they 

 knew I was SAFELY tied up with the Smith 

 Land Co. they wei-e talking to me a number of 

 times about what they could do for me if I was 

 only loose. That the Smiths were only using 

 my farm to show and convince people what 

 other lands would look like once they were put 

 up in shape like ouis, etc., and finally I did 

 get a clause inserted in my contract with the 

 Smiths that I had the right to sell land myself, 



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