John Melnik and his daughter, Annie pose for this picture, taken circa 1906-1908.  Annie would have been eight to ten years old. The Melnik’s home was on River Road in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, near the banks of the Connecticut River. John and Thekla Melnik emigrated from Galicia, now divided between Poland and Ukraine, in 1898, with two young sons, Nicholas (born 1890) and Henry (born 1896). By 1910, the couple had ten children, four of whom  lived to adulthood. The 1920 census listed their son Andrew’s birthplace as Brazil, implying the family might not have come directly to America.

This photograph was taken by the Howes Brothers. Based in Ashfield, Massachusetts, they created more than 20,000 images of New England rural life from 1890 to around 1910, offering a glimpse into the lives of people rarely visible in history.