The Drought of 1934

The drought of 1934
was just another difficulty to be faced by area residents living through the
historic depression of the 1930’s. The stock market had crashed, banks had closed,
business had laid off workers, and manufacturing had shut down. Farm prices went
down, and farmers worried about keeping their farms. Although not considered
part of the Great Plains Dust Bowl states, Adams County suffered a major drought.
Personal reminiscences of those years were recently collected and given to the
Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County. Many of those interviewed remembered
the 1934 drought, particularly the dust and the heat. Sleeping on the porch or
in the yard was the norm in the summer as no one had air conditioning. One family
remembered they always had plenty to eat and said, “We didn’t have anything,
but made the best of everything.” They remembered men going from farm to farm
looking for work and housewives finding enough to feed them. Another talked
about the importance of the harvest moons as they could work at night in the
field, cutting corn stalks by the light of the moon.

The July 27, 1934 Herald Whig said the
community was suffering from the highest temperatures and driest conditions
ever reported. The Adams County farm advisor, S. F. Russell said the corn crop
was a failure and he worried that the farmers would not have enough feed for
their livestock. But he advised they not immediately sell their hogs and cattle
as the prices were so low. In August, Adams, Brown, and Pike counties were the
first in the state to be placed on the drought relief list of the Agriculture
Adjustment Administration (AAA). Through the AAA Adams County farmers were able
to participate in the government’s cattle buying program. Drought relief was
one part of the AAA. The cattle they bought were processed and distributed to
the “needy unemployed in Illinois,” according to the August 24th
Herald Whig. Prices for two-year-old cattle ranged from $13 to $20 a head.

The 1934 drought also brought the
Citizen’s Conservation Corps (CCC) to Quincy. Begun in 1933 and part of President
Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Corps was a relief program which provided
employment to single young men. Starting in the cities in the eastern United
States, the program was expanded and in Illinois 5,581 men were to be recruited
to work on emergency conservation in drought areas. Only drought affected
counties and cities with a population of more than 2,500 were eligible to
recruit men for the CCC. Quincy had a quota of 75 to fill.

The drought brought unexpected
consequences to the county when the Illinois Department of Health announced
there were 44 new cases of typhoid fever in Illinois with six cases from Adams
County. The County had the second highest number of cases in Illinois. Water
was scarce in 1934 and some were using old wells, cisterns, or creeks to get
their water. Typhoid was one of the leading causes of death in the 19th
century and the source was bacterial contaminated water or poor sanitation. The
city health officer, Dr. H. O. Collins suggested people be vaccinated and
advised country residents to get a supply of water from Quincy.

Both
the state and Adams County had relief committees. The Illinois Emergency Relief
Commission reported that Adams County led the state in the number and amount of
drought loans. The average loan was $18 or $364.96 in today’s money. Loans were
used to purchase livestock feed or seed for crops. W. P. Gerdes was the chair
of the Adams County Emergency Relief Committee. He reported in the December 13th
Herald Whig that the total number of drought loans to Adams County farmers was
1,219. “The loans, which could not exceed $200, Mr. Gerdes explained, could be
paid back either in cash or labor, most of them being worked out by the
borrowers on assignments made to various projects, such as the municipal
airport, where men and teams have been working all fall on a drought relief
assignment.” Others paid their loans back by working for their township road
commissioner. The January 25, 1935 Herald Whig reported that as of November,
21.6% of Adams County residents were on the relief rolls.

By early
1935, the economic damage caused by the drought was considerable. The Adams
County Shippers Association estimated the damage to be at least $6,000,000.
There was practically no corn crop in 1934 so farmers had to buy corn at $1 per
bushel. Hay, wheat and oats crops were also ruined. Cattle prices were up and
those who still had cattle had to buy hay from other parts of the state and
have the hay brought in, mostly by rail.

As reported in the February 26,
1935 Herald Whig, “Never in its history has Adams County faced such a shortage
of hogs as this year, according to C. C. Mast, manager of the Adams County
Shippers Association. Last year at this time the association was shipping out
from six to eight cars of hogs a week, while this year the loaders are doing
well to fill two cars weekly.” He predicted the shortage would last at least
another year. When farmers realized they would have no feed for the winter
after the 1934 summer drought, they sold their feeder hogs and brood sows. Mr.
Mast told the Herald Whig that other parts of Illinois and Missouri were
affected but not as badly as Adams and Pike counties. Across the county hog
production was 35% of normal while cattle production fell 11%.

Farmers
are uniquely affected by changing weather and there have certainly been periods
of too much rain and not enough rain. But the drought of 1934 was significant
enough to have been written about multiple times in the newspaper and to stay
in the memoires of those who lived through it.

Sources

“Adams, Brown And Pike Counties Placed On Primary Drought
Relief List; farmers Will Receive Help.”

Quincy Herald Whig

, August 14,
1934, 20.

“Adams County’s Hog Production is 75 Per Cent Short This
Year: Drought Blamed For Situation.”

Quincy
Herald Whig

, February 26, 1935, 12.

“Adams Has Lead in Relief Loans Made To Farmers.”

Quincy
Herald Whig,

December 23, 1934, 7.

“Additional 75 May Be Sent To CCC Camp.”

Quincy Herald
Whig

, July 9, 1934, 7.

“Claims Drought in Adams County Cost 6 Millions.”

Quincy
Herald Whig,

March 10, 1935, 18.

“Greater Portion Drought Relief Loans Are Paid.”

Quincy Herald Whig

, December 13, 1934,
18.

“Illinois Moves To Reduce Cost Of Relief Work.”

Quincy
Herald Whig

, January 25, 1935, 4.

“Quincy And Vicinity Has Not Had Heavy Rainfall Since June,
1933, More Than Year Ago, Records Reveal: Little Corn To Be Produced in County,
Advisor says.”

Quincy Herald Whig

,
July 27, 1934, 14.

“Send Out Blanks For Government On Cattle Sales.”

Quincy
Herald Whig

, September 4, 1934, 7.

“Successful Year Shown In Report Of Farm Advisor.”

Quincy
Herald Whig

, October 21, 1934, 6.

“Warns Against Typhoid Danger in Adams County.”

Quincy
Herald Whig

, July 25, 1934, 10.

“Will Buy Cattle in Adams County As Relief Move.”

Quincy
Herald Whig

, August 25, 1934, 12.