This c.1900 photo captures several significant images: the large brick home and stately trees, the ladies on the lawn, the painted barn, and the beautiful horse hitched to a handsome carriage (as I understand it, when a family paid for a photograph in this particular era, they liked to include their prized possessions!) Apparently this Lenawee county farmer, my great-aunt's father-in-law, Elwood Stoffer, was quite successful. Of course, I never knew him as he was born in 1858 and died in 1923; my mother remembers only that the farm was very clean, "never a fly to be seen", something she may have heard from her own mother.
The interior of the home is shown below, and again, there is evidence of Elwood's prosperity. That is his daughter, Marie, in a sitting room or parlor which boasts an upright piano, books, framed portraits, a tufted fainting couch, and beautiful carpets - all very Victorian and ornate. These are not the sort of furnishings one would expect to see in a standard farmhouse located in the upper Midwest.
Following is another view of the farm. Attired in light summer dresses, Marie and my great-aunt Florence seem to be enjoying a romp in a field of wildflowers. Perhaps they were on a Sunday drive and stopped to gather a bouquet of blooms. Were the fringed surrey and horses included on purpose? If not, they do add interest and intrigue to the photograph, as one can also see the older couple waiting patiently in the back seat . The man, Elwood, is dressed in a dark suit and hat, and his wife is swathed from head to toe in some type of fabric, which is probably a dust robe designed to protect her good clothes from the earth kicked up by the horses' hooves.
Ps:
This photo was probably taken by Marie's brother Fred, who was also Florence's husband - I was given a copy of the original by their son.
Fred and Marie, (whose given name was actually Ethel Marie) were the only children of Elwood and Angie Stoffer. The first babies of Fred and Florence were born in Morenci, though they later moved to Grand Rapids. Tiny Marie never married; she had one leg shorter than the other from a childhood illness, but she was a hard worker and helped her mother cook for the family and farm hands. She must have been delighted when her brother married and provided her with a sweet sister-in-law. Marie (Auntie Ria to the nieces and nephews) spent her final years in Grand Rapids at the home of Fred and Florence.
Not too far from home, the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary in West Alton, Missouri is hosting a very honored group that was once near extinction. A record number of 960 trumpeter swans was counted on January 24, 2014, a tremendous jump from 1991 when only five were sighted. We took a drive out to witness the swans in their winter habitat, near the Great Rivers Confluence (on one of the coldest days of the year!) and were rewarded with several great opportunities to photograph the magnificent birds. I sprinted to the shoreline for a couple of shots and the rest were taken from the warmth of the truck as we drove along the paved roads that encircle the ponds, marshes and wetlands.
Some of the graceful swans, along with rafts of ducks and an occasional goose, swam in the frigid open waters and many more rested on the far banks of ice. Bald eagles, usually the star of our January jaunts up the Great River Road, also patrolled the ponds and the river for breakfast, and we spotted many more perched high up in the bluffs later in the morning. Altogether it was a thrilling trip that rewarded these amateur birders/wildlife enthusiasts with some fowl memories and lots of beautiful photographs!
