The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was a program created during the Great Depression era. It’s purpose was both to pump money back into our ailing economy as well as providing jobs for the jobless. Unlike many of the programs the money didn’t come from the government, but came through the FERA and was direct from the state.

Daviess County was included in this program and one of its allotments was $6,500. Three thousand of this allotted money was received in cash, and was to go to county projects, building bridges, improving roads, and other forms of county projects. The money was to be paid out for labor and work done.

The balance of the allotted money was to come at a later date, but no one who was on the relief projects could receive any of the money directly.

The money was to be used to buy feed for those who had stock to feed, and who had no feed ready. It was available to anybody who had a horse, cow, chickens, or stock of any kind, and who didn’t have any feed. The feed was to be purchased from a Daviess County feed store, and the money used to make the feed purchase was to be paid back by relief work.

— researched and presented by Wilbur Bush, Gallatin, MO