Fred Miller, an Air Force veteran, purchased a Gothic Revival-style house in southern Virginia, close to his childhood home. His intention was to create a large space for family gatherings. However, he found unexpected links to his family’s past.
The house, known as Sharswood, was built in the 1850s. It had once served as a plantation owned by slaveholders with the last name Miller, the same as Fred’s.
In a 2022 interview with 60 Minutes, Miller remarked, “If I had known there was a ‘Miller Plantation,’ I might have connected the name. But I had never heard of a ‘Miller Plantation.'”
Fred’s sister, Karen Dixon-Rexroth, encouraged him to buy the property. Alongside cousins Dexter Miller and Sonya Womack-Miranda, they embarked on research into Sharswood’s past.
“I felt a pull to understand the history of this place,” Dixon-Rexroth shared. She began investigating the property’s previous owners and records available online.
With local historian Karice Luck-Brimmer’s assistance, the family found documents that revealed their ancestors were enslaved at Sharswood.
Fred Miller recounted to 60 Minutes, “Since the discovery, I realized the wear on the basement stairs came from enslaved people—my ancestors—walking those steps.”
While scouting Sharswood, the 60 Minutes team, including Shari Finkelstein and Braden Cleveland Bergan, joined Dexter Miller in a conversation with former coworker Bill Thompson. Thompson’s family owned the property since 1917, selling it to Fred in 2020.
Dexter asked Thompson about the location of the slave cemetery. Thompson indicated a cluster of trees beyond Fred’s property, revealing the likely burial site of their ancestors.
Weeks later, journalist Lesley Stahl visited the site with Fred and Karen. “It was heart-wrenching,” Fred said. “To think it was right under my nose all these years.”
Following the airing of the story in May 2022, Fred moved back to Virginia. He founded a non-profit, Sharswood Foundation, to preserve the slave quarters and cemetery. The foundation also offers tours of the historic house.
The original report aired on May 15, 2022, produced by Keith Zubrow and edited by Sarah Shafer Prediger.