The house that unlocked a family's history
Summary
Fred Miller, an Air Force veteran, unknowingly bought a house in Virginia that was once a plantation owned by his ancestors who enslaved people. After discovering this history, Miller and his family researched the property, found a slave cemetery on the land, and now work to preserve the site and share its story.Key Facts
- Fred Miller bought a Gothic Revival-style house in southern Virginia near his childhood home.
- The house was built in the 1850s and was a plantation called Sharswood.
- The plantation was owned by Miller’s own family members who enslaved people.
- Miller and his sister Karen Dixon-Rexroth researched the house’s history with the help of a local historian.
- They found documents proving their ancestors had been enslaved at Sharswood.
- A slave cemetery was discovered just beyond the property line, identified by a former owner’s family.
- Since learning about the site, Fred Miller moved back to Virginia to care for the slave quarters and cemetery.
- He created the Sharswood foundation to preserve the history and now offers tours of the house.
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