Musical accompaniment: Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana composed by Pietro Mascagni.
Leroy F. Smith, known to his friends and family as Roy, was born in 1878 in Benton County, Iowa. He took up photography at the age of 20 and captured many images of his family’s life on Maple Hill Farm.
There is something so otherworldly about these photographs. Looking at them, you get a sense of who the people were and what their lives were like.
Roy took this picture of the family home from their windmill. The Smiths had a large family, plenty of friends, and occasional hired help, but being so far away from most people must have made for a more serene life.
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Maple Hill Farm was a large place. Even a big, hard-working family still found it necessary to bring in big crews to help at different times of the year.
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
This is Mabel Smith with her bicycle in 1901. Can you imagine riding a bike in a skirt like that?
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Roy taking it easy in the parlor:
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Mabel and Eva posing with the family telephone:
Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Ice-cutting in 1907:
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
There are a lot of photos of the family working on their farm. Here’s Roy working in the field with a horse-drawn plow:
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
The Charlie Smith family orchestra, circa 1900:
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Clark and Mabel Smith came down with the deadly, highly contagious smallpox virus in 1904. Roy photographed Clark in the parlor of their home.
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Smallpox was eradicated in 1980, but that was far too late for Clark’s sister Mabel. She died on July 24, 1904. Mabel must have been very loved. Floral tributes to her poured in.
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Roy took this photo of his Uncle Albert and his father Henry playing cards and smoking cigars:
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Leroy tried some fun manipulations with his pictures–his trick photography. This example from 1900 shows Roy protruding from both ends of a barrel.
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Miss Heinrich (left) with Clark, Leroy, and Elsie Smith, playing a carrom game in the parlor in 1910:
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
A structure damaged by a tornado. It’s not clear what the structure was or whether it was on the farm or a nearby property:
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Roy and a hired man washing dishes in 1908:
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
Horse-drawn carriage bringing a group back from a picnic in 1900.
State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines
I like my modern comforts very much but something in me longs for a simple life. What do you think? Would you go back to a time and place like this if you could?
old spirituals 
Such wonderful photos, snapshots of daily life in a family. I crave a simple life, but not the inconveniences and the diseases that came with it. I have always felt America should have kept giving the Smallpox vaccine. That stopped in the early 1970’s. Big mistake!
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I didn’t know we don’t give smallpox vaccine anymore. I read that it was eradicated worldwide so maybe they figure there’s no way anyone can get it? I tend to agree with you… better safe than sorry with the deadly diseases!
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I don’t know if our military or overseas travelers have the vaccine available to them. Our disease control center does have the virus for production of the vaccine. It’s a concern in my mind if a rogue government would get hold of it. I think many of us have those awful Chicken Pox scars. I can’t even think of what Smallpox would be like!
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Believe it or not, I just heard something about that from someone with direct knowledge! Every once in a blue moon, I post a link to one of these stories on Reddit. (It’s great for bringing people over but they don’t like you to do too much self-promotion.) I posted the picture of Clark Smith with smallpox, and a soldier–or maybe a veteran, by now–wrote in. He was vaccinated for smallpox relatively recently before he was deployed overseas. I don’t know how to paste a screenshot of his comment, but here’s a direct link.
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It’s good to hear our military is protected from preventable diseases they’re exposed to around the world. I wish we could bring back the vaccine for all of our citizens.
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I am not certain Wikipedia is correct, but according to its information on small pox, the disease was last diagnosed in 1977 and the World Health Organization certified its eradication in 1980. It is “the only human disease to be eradicated to date.”
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I only knew that my pediatrician told me in 1971 that they were no longer giving the Smallpox vaccine. Is it eradicated worldwide or just in the USA? I don’t know if I’d trust the WHO.
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Believe me, I understand the trepidation in regard to WHO.
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i reckon that poor kid had some bad scars. How sad about his sister
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He probably did. I have two scars from chicken pox, which isn’t nearly as severe. He was lucky to survive. Smallpox was deadly.
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I also love all the modern conveniences and enjoy most aspects of life in today’s world, but I have to say I also think a simpler life looks awfully appealing. I’m sure they felt stress at times, but their farmhouse looked so serene and peaceful.
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Mary! How nice to see you! 😊 I agree, life on Maple Hill Farm is very appealing!
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I am enthralled by vintage photos. I am drawn back in time and try to image what life was like for the people in the photos. “Roy’s” photos reminded me that nearly 50% of the population lived on a farm in the late 1800s.
My boyhood town, with a population of about 2,000, was surrounded by small farms. I took many bike rides and hikes into the surrounding area. I, with good friends, was charged by a bull that escaped from a farmer’s control as we were walking up a dirt road. We scrambled up an embankment, into the wood and climbed into the trees. He followed us, eventually moving on to graze in an adjacent field.
It was Abe Lincoln that created the Department of Agriculture in the Spring of 1862, a man who was born a poor farmer. Lincoln referred to the new Federal department as “The People’s Department,” because the majority of Americans were farmers. Over the next two months – in the midst of the Civil War – Lincoln signed additional legislation that expanded and transformed American farming, including the Homestead Act, and the establishment of the Land Grant agricultural university system. America was abundantly blessed with families like the Smiths. They are who made America . . . America.
I suspect the loss of Mabel was profound. I have to point out the fellow sitting on the ground, against the rear wheel of the wagon transporting the picnic goers appears to be taking a swig from a small bottle, likely an adult beverage.
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You were lucky to get away from that bull! I read about someone being killed that way a few years ago and Google says approximately 10 people are killed every year in the United States by bulls. Probably when we had more farms that number was much higher.
I noticed the guy by the wheel too!
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Fortunately, in my youth, I could run fast. I was the lead “chicken.” As the old proverb says, I didn’t have to outrun [the bull], I just have to outrun [the other guys.]
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😂 I like that story!
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Yes, our hard working pioneers and farmers built America. Great people.
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