The celebration

Probably near Lexington, Virginia, date unknown, by Michael Miley Studiovia Library of Virginia Commons on flickr (both photos).

I think this was a 50th wedding anniversary celebration, and the couple were posing with their eleven children.

Michael Miley was a popular commercial photographer in Lexington, Virginia, who patented a color process in 1902 and may have produced the first color photographic print in the U.S. He died in 1918, so these photos must have been taken by his son Henry or another younger associate.

The same family with spouses and grandchildren. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

The Library of Virginia recently discovered 58 previously unidentified images by the Studio and hopes that someone will be able to help it identify some of the subjects in the pictures.

2 thoughts on “The celebration

  1. I love the winding picket fence in the background. I wonder if the children are in age order. Looks like a strong family.

    1. I liked that fence too. They seem to have lived at the bottom of a steep hill.

      I hope the children aren’t in strict age order. That would mean having eight boys in a row first. I suppose, for the time, it wasn’t such a rare family size. Today, they would have a TV show.

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