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.

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.

This is Mabel Smith with her bicycle in 1901. Can you imagine riding a bike in a skirt like that?

Roy taking it easy in the parlor:

Mabel and Eva posing with the family telephone:

Ice-cutting in 1907:

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:

The Charlie Smith family orchestra, circa 1900:

Clark and Mabel Smith came down with the deadly, highly contagious smallpox virus in 1904. Roy photographed Clark in the parlor of their home.

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.

Roy took this photo of his Uncle Albert and his father Henry playing cards and smoking cigars:

Leroy tried some fun manipulations with his pictures–his trick photography. This example from 1900 shows Roy protruding from both ends of a barrel.

Miss Heinrich (left) with Clark, Leroy, and Elsie Smith, playing a carrom game in the parlor in 1910:

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:

Roy and a hired man washing dishes in 1908:

Horse-drawn carriage bringing a group back from a picnic in 1900.

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?