When Fredrick Miller bought a house two years ago in the southern Virginia community where he was raised, he had no idea how much it would change his life. And he had no idea how much it had already shaped it.
Soon after buying the home in Gretna, Miller and his extended family learned it was a former plantation that had once been home to at least 58 enslaved people. After digging deep into census and court records, the family made another startling discovery: Their great-grandmother, Sarah Miller, was born to parents who were enslaved at Sharswood.
A few days after their story appeared in January, Fredrick Miller was contacted by “60 Minutes,” which produced a two-segment episode that aired in May.
The months since the stories ran have been emotional, Miller said in a recent interview. “It’s just amazing how many people have heard of the story and have so many good things to say about it,” he said. “The story gives a lot of people like me hope they can find out a little bit about their ancestors.”
In November, Miller moved back to Virginia from California to be closer to the property. He started a nonprofit organization called the Sharswood Foundation, to educate people in southern Virginia about the plight of enslaved people in the area and to restore a slave cabin on the property.
Earlier this year, the family discovered an overgrown graveyard as part of the former plantation site, where boulders serve as headstones for several dozen graves. The site, Miller believes, is where his ancestors and other enslaved people from Sharswood were buried.
“I have a vision to bring it back to a place of dignity,” he said.
— Joe Heim | Read the original story.
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