Miles Burkholder Carpenter   (1889-1985) 
Brownstone (Lancaster County), Pennsylvania, near Lititz

His Mennonite family moved to Waverly, Virginia in 1901. His Father built a sawmill and Miles’ education ended after 8th grade because he was needed at the mill. Miles started a milling business and added an ice house. He lived in a house on the property of the mill in Waverly. He retired around 1955.

Miles started carving small animals to pass the time during slow times at the mill during WWII. When his wife died in 1966 he became morose and turned to carving in earnest. One of the pieces he carved was a huge watermelon trade sign. Don Walters, a curator at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fold Art Center, spotted it while driving and Miles Carpenter began to gain recognition. Jeff Came, a Virginia Folk Art dealer, became his dear friend and represented him in 1973.

His work is remarkably broad. He could create anything from wood and roots. His work is both serious and comical. His personality abounds and is expressed in his carvings.