Anna King was the eldest daughter of Hiram Udall King and Francisca (Perkins) King. Although she was born and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, her family’s ancestral home was the King Farm in Woodstock, where her father had been raised. Anna retained a strong connection to this farm throughout her life.

In addition to Anna, the King family had three other children (shown left to right): Mac [Hiram MacFarland King], Ruth, and Francisca.

After graduating from Bryn Mawr College, Anna pursued a career in social work; however, outside of her job, she liked doing physical work - like mowing hay - when she visited the King’s family farm in Woodstock.

Anna was also an avid photographer. It is assumed, given her interest in photography, that Anna took many of the photos shown in this collection, which features her family and their farm in Vermont.

A number of the photos attributed to Anna show the King family enjoying outdoor life, such as picnicking.

Others show the children with the animals on the farm. In particular, the girls in the family enjoyed horseback riding.

They also enjoyed taking pictures of the horses.

And they figured out that horses are much more cooperative about posing when there is a dish of grain around…

or a handful of grass.

When not spending time with the horses, the children played with the calves and…

explored the nearby meadows and fields.

We know from an oral history about the King family that they enjoyed going on “expeditions” to places like Luce’s Lookout, Mount Tom, and Biscuit Hill to hike, explore, and picnic.

Francisca appears to have enjoyed climbing trees…

while the older girls are shown canoeing…

and even hiking up their skirts to wade.

Fortunately, they also took many photos documenting their lives. In documenting their lives, by extension, they also documented the lives of the upper middle class who had leisure time during the late 19th century and early 20th century, providing us with a glimpse into this fascinating time period.