Paul and Stephania (“Stella”) Sadowski (also spelled “Sodowski” and “Sadosky”) stand before their River Road home in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, around 1906. Mr. Sadowski had emigrated from the Polish region of Russia in 1902, when he was 25 years old. He joined his brother Peter, aged 20, and the next year his younger brother Charlie, then 15 years old, came to America. His wife-to-be, then Stella Chlemacheski, emigrated in 1903, at age 18. The couple was married in Deerfield in July, 1906, and this photograph may have been taken on the occasion of their first home together. They worked this farm in Deerfield with Paul’s brothers.

This photograph was taken by the Howes Brothers of 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.