Fred Miller, a 57-year-old Air Force veteran from California, bought a historic house in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in 2020. The house, called Sharswood, was built around 1850 and had been the center of a large 1,300-acre plantation. Miller’s family had no prior knowledge of the home’s history, but after some research, they learned that the property had once been a major site of slavery, with slave quarters located behind the main house. Miller had initially believed the house might not be sold to a Black person, but the Thompson family, who had owned the property since 1917, sold it to him. His cousin, Karen Dixon-Rexroth, became interested in the house’s history and began researching its past. Her work eventually uncovered the connection between the property and the legacy of slavery. Through genealogical research, the Miller family traced their ancestry back to Sarah Miller, who was born in 1868 and was the family’s matriarch. Further investigation revealed that Sarah’s parents, David and Violet Miller, had been enslaved on the Sharswood plantation by Nathaniel Crenshaw Miller, the original owner. This was confirmed through historical records, including the Virginia Slave Birth Index, which listed Samuel Miller, Sarah’s brother, as being born into slavery on the property. The discovery of a possible slave cemetery near the property added to the emotional weight of these revelations. The family found several unmarked stones, believed to be the resting places of enslaved people. Now owning both the plantation house and the slave quarters, Miller has expressed a desire to preserve the site and share its history with others. He has established a nonprofit, the Sharswood Foundation, to maintain the site and offer educational tours about its complex past.