Dean-Hey Heritage

"One time when I was about 10 years old it rained enough to stop work and some men sat around talking. I listened as one told about a friend who had his farm mortgaged. He went to pay the interest, but the creditor told him there was no rush if he needed the money for other use, so he let it accumulate. Suddenly hard times set in and he was well behind and could not pay. The mortgage was foreclosed and he lost the farm. This impressed me all my life and I resolved there would not be a mortgage on my farm if I had one. I bought my first farm when I was 37 subject to owner mortgage and paid it off so that there was no mortgage on it from 1915 to 1967 when I sold it for cash. From time to time in expanding I have been in debt for quite short times, always using all speed to settle up, usually, however, having cash for expansion as needed." (from "The Story of My Lifetime of 86 Years," by Clement Hey)