Air Force vet, 56, unwittingly buys Virginia home where his ancestors were slaves
An Air Force veteran has discovered that a home he bought in Virginia two years ago with his family used to be a plantation site where his ancestors were enslaved in the 19th century.
Fred Miller, 56, purchased the 10.5-acre property, known as Sharswood in the 1800s, for more than $220,000 after the sister of one of his former colleagues and friends Bill Thompson sold it to him in May 2020.
The home, which used to be 1,300-acre plantation, is located in Gretna, Pittsylvania County.
‘I was a little shocked by that, I would say,’ Miller said in a CBS 60 Minutes interview first aired in May, referring to the recent, shocking discovery.
Separating his time between the historical home and California, Miller further said that he would often walk past the Virginia property during his childhood, as he was raised in the area.
‘I just wanted somewhere to have family gatherings,’ he clarified to 60 Minutes, reiterating that he had no idea that generational cousins of his once set feet where he does now.
Fred Miller, a 56-year-old Air Force veteran, purchased a 10.5-acre property in Gretna, Virginia in 2020 for more than $220,000, as he wanted to buy land where he had spent his childhood and sizeable property to host gatherings for his extended family
The home, which used to be 1,300-acre plantation, is located in Pittsylvania County and has a particular green and white color code to it
Miller was not expecting to unlock hidden treasures from his family’s past when he bought the former plantation two years ago, also known as Sharswood
‘If I had known there was a “Miller Plantation,” then I maybe could have put a connection with the last name “Miller” and that plantation,” Fred told CBS’ 60 Minutes. ‘But I’d never heard of a “Miller Plantation” or a “Miller” anything ever before.’ Pictured: Some of Miller’s ancestors who lived in or around Sharswood in the 20th or 19th century
The shocking discovery first came to light when Miller’s sister, Karen Dixon-Rexroth, 49, and their cousins, Sonya Woman-Miranda and Dexter Miller, dug into the home’s past. At the time, they were trying to get a sense of the history behind the white, colonial home with a green roof.
Soon afterwards, the family came across archives, including several different yearly editions of the U.S. Census, that revealed the household behind Sharswood also shared the ‘Miller’ surname.
‘If I had known there was a ‘Miller Plantation,’ I maybe could have put a connection with the last name Miller and that plantation,’ Miller told 60 Minutes.
Asked by Lesley Stahl if he had ever heard of his last name being associated with a plantation until this year, the Air Force veteran replied: ‘I’d never heard of a ‘Miller Plantation’ or a ‘Miller’ anything ever before.’
In order to figure out their family free, the extended Miller family worked with Virginia Humanities and African-American genealogy researcher, Karice Luck-Brimmer, to learn about their ancestors, according to The Washington Post.
‘Something drew me to knowing the history of this place,’ Dixon-Rexroth said in an interview on 60 Minutes. ‘I knew it was an old place from the 1800s, so I started from there, as far as looking at the previous owners, and also any records that were available online.’
Miller’s sister, 49-year-old Karen Dixon-Rexroth (pictured), and their cousins, Sonya Womack-Miranda and Dexter Miller dug into the home’s history shortly after he had bought the property
The family of Miller’s friend and former colleague, Bill Thompson, owned the former plantation site for nearly a century before Thompson’s sister sold it to the Air Force veteran two years ago
A cabin on the 10.5-acre property’s grounds was where slaves used to live in. Miller fully plans to renovate it to pay tribute to his ancestors and to educate people about the slavery’s history
The Millers hope their ancestors are ‘looking down on us with a smile’ after one of their own bought the Sharswood property years after they first settled on it
The Millers were able to identify their great-great-grandmother, Sarah Miller, thanks to the ancestral tracing, The Post reported.
Records from the U.S. Census from the late 1800s, early 20th century shows that Violet and David Miller also lived not too far from Sharswood. The couple’s son, Samuel, had also set foot on the plantation.
Another individual, abbreviated as ‘N.C. Miller,’ however was identified as an enslaver, according to The Post.
‘Since the revelation… I know that when the slaves brought food into the main house, they came up through the basement stairs,’ Miller said in the 60 Minutes episode.
‘And there’s a distinct wear on the basement stairs from years and years of traffic, of people walking up those stairs, I’m thinking, ‘Wow, these are my people,” he added.
‘Since the revelation… I know that when the slaves brought food into the main house, they came up through the basement stairs,’ Miller said in the 60 Minutes episode. ‘And there’s a distinct wear on the basement stairs from years and years of traffic, of people walking up those stairs, I’m thinking, ‘Wow, these are my people”
Miller learned from Thompson that his ancestors had been buried in the woods, right on the property line, as no official cemetery was built
No tombstones (pictured) of Miller’s ancestors have their names on it, making it difficult all together for the family to identify their forebears
Thompson had also disclosed to Miller that his ancestors were buried in the woods right next to the property though no tombstones were labelled with their names on them.
‘It was heart-wrenching, I’ll tell you that,’ Fred said of his ancestors’ burial sight. He added that he plans on renovating the slave cabin that his antecedents resided in to educate locals and others about slavery and its history.
He further revealed that he wants to tell the story of those who set foot on the property before he did, hoping to make them proud, in particular his great-great-grandmother, Sarah.
‘I just hope that somehow she’s looking from heaven,’ Miller told The Washington Post, adding: ‘and finally cracking a beautiful smile.’
‘I would definitely say throughout this property I can feel something within me when I’m walking around, simply doing anything,’ Miller’s sister, Karen Dixon-Rexroth told CBS’ 60 Minutes.
‘I know that our ancestors are looking down on us with a smile,’ she added.
