In a small town in Indiana in the 1890s, the domineering and ambitious Mrs. Biddle arranges a marriage between her spoiled daughter Thelma and the town's prize catch, harvester David Langston, who is wedded to the soil. David is friends with orphan Ruth Jameson and, although she is in love with him, he eventually gives in to the machinations of Mrs. Biddle and consents to marry Thelma. Meanwhile, technological advances come to town, including its first gasoline buggy, galvanic battery, and metal bathtub fitted with running water. When Mrs. Biddle tries to convince David to give up the farming life and join her husband in real estate, Mr. Biddle, hen-pecked and dissatisfied with city life, warns David against selling his farm. Meanwhile, Mrs. Biddle has Ruth's sassy younger sister Naomi, whom David adores, placed in an orphanage. When Ruth's beloved grandmother Moreland, who was against David's marriage to Thelma, becomes sick and dies, Ruth and David are drawn together, and he discovers that Mrs. Biddle put Naomi in the orphanage. Attending an orphanage board meeting, David publicly confronts Mrs. Biddle, who is a member of the board, and announces his plans to adopt Naomi himself. Outraged, Thelma hurls her engagement ring at David. Mr. Biddle, amused, declares that from now on he will be master of his house. Ruth, David and Naomi are then reunited, and David vows to stay a harvester.