My Great-Grandfather's Perseverance

            Russell Merry Greenley was born on August 29, 1886, the youngest of seven children born to the Thomas Greenley family of Epworth, Iowa.  His mother died when he was sixteen.  Since he did not get his father’s land, he had to make his own way, so after his marriage to Laura Main of Independence, he moved there and bought a farm with money borrowed from the bank in Rowley.  When the Great Depression hit, banks were allowing farmers to default on their loans, and needed only to write down that they were unable to pay, and they did not have to anymore.  Russell, however, insisted on paying his loan.  He said that since he had borrowed money from them, he would pay back every dime.  And he did.  It took a long time, because things were still hard for him and his family, but he was determined to do what he had promised in paying back the bank.  Many banks closed in the Depression, but Rowley didn’t, in part due to Russell’s insistence on paying.  Perhaps others followed his example, my grandpa didn’t tell me.  He was an honest and very hardworking man, and my grandpa’s stories of him affect even me to this day.