Lewis Miller (May 3, 1796 – September 15, 1882) was a

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ), also known as Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They emigrated primarily from German-spe ...

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

ist, noted for his

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

s of historical and every day events. Miller was born in

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

. A

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

by trade, he kept several journals throughout his life which he filled with simple watercolors, richly embedded with text and captions chronicling life in the early and mid-19th century. His work is most notable for its depiction of life of ordinary people in rural Pennsylvania Dutch country. It is of special interest to historians for its depictions of everyday life and insight into local culture and customs. He spent most of his life in and near York, but also traveled to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

(including

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

and the upper

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

near where his parents had been born) and later in life frequently visited Christiansburg, Virginia, drawing and capturing scenes and events for posterity. He drew a series of watercolors depicting scenes in York during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, including several related to the Gettysburg Campaign and the

Battle of Hanover The Battle of Hanover took place on June 30, 1863, in Hanover in southwestern York County, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry, which was riding north to get ...

. Miller's works today can be found in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum at

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location and ...

in Virginia; the York County History Center in York, Pennsylvania; Montgomery Museum in Christiansburg, Virginia; and at the

Virginia Historical Society The Virginia Museum of History and Culture founded in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history. It is a private, n ...

in Richmond, Virginia. Sixteen mini-murals in York are based on drawings from Miller's journals.

References

* The Historical Society of York. ''Lewis Miller, Sketches and Chronicles''. 1966.
Montgomery Museum and Lewis Miller Regional Art Center

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Lewis People from York, Pennsylvania American artists People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War 1796 births 1882 deaths Artists from Pennsylvania