About Us
ThANk YOu 60 Minutes!
To all who tuned in to the 60 Minutes episode...Thank you! My family and I are so grateful for the outpouring of support, kind words and financial assistance during this time. We are overjoyed and hopeful that our family's discovery at Sharswood may serve as a catalyst for a greater degree of love, kindness and respect for ALL of humanity; here in America's south and all across this beautiful country. We all have a small part in making this different. At Sharswood, I will do my best to fix a lot of visibly broken things...but I can not do it alone.
To Lesley Stahl and the producers of 60 Minutes, thank you for sharing our family's story with the world. We all should have known more!
~Fred Miller
Help Our Cause
Your support and contributions enables us to meet our goals and improve community conditions. Your generous donation will help fund our mission. Make checks payable to: Sharswood Foundation
5685 Riceville Rd. Gretna VA 24557
Donations to the Sharswood Foundation are tax-deductible as the organization is a 501( c )(3) entity (EIN 88-2598753)
Our Team
0UR HISTORY
0UR HISTORY
At Sharswood, our amazing team of regulars and volunteers are committed to helping our community. We take our family pride and convictions and turn them into action. We are determined to make our ancestors proud. Think you would be a good fit? Get in touch for more information!
0UR HISTORY
0UR HISTORY
0UR HISTORY
After purchasing a place spacious enough to accommodate gatherings for my large family, Fred and his family discovered the home had a grandiose history. This place had a name; Sharswood; it was a former tobacco plantation encompassing roughly 2500 acres. We later learned the plantation owner carried the same 'last' or family name as ours
After purchasing a place spacious enough to accommodate gatherings for my large family, Fred and his family discovered the home had a grandiose history. This place had a name; Sharswood; it was a former tobacco plantation encompassing roughly 2500 acres. We later learned the plantation owner carried the same 'last' or family name as ours...Miller, what a coincidence; or was it?
The journey to find that our direct descendants were enslaved on the property that Fred now own is emotional on levels unimaginable on so many levels.
Pictured is a painting of Great-grandma Sarah, who was born into slavery at Sharswood Plantation
Image courtesy of Loretta McNair
Why support this foundation?
Why support this foundation?
Why support this foundation?
Because someone forgot about humanity. After some research and discovery our direct descendant's connection to the Sharswood plantation as enslaved servants. One thing had to be obviously present on or near the property...somewhere.
Cousin Dexter asked the most important question to Bill Thompson; whose family had owned the property sin
Because someone forgot about humanity. After some research and discovery our direct descendant's connection to the Sharswood plantation as enslaved servants. One thing had to be obviously present on or near the property...somewhere.
Cousin Dexter asked the most important question to Bill Thompson; whose family had owned the property since 1917; he asked of Bill, "Bill, where is the cemetery"? Bills answer would change everything. "Right over there", he said pointing to a wooded area just off a dirt road adjacent to Fred's property.
The discovery of the abandoned enslaved burial site seemingly untouched since the last "stone" was laid, being consumed by the forest and Mother Nature herself. Inaction was not an option. This has to be fixed!
We formed the Sharswood foundation not only to restore the cemetery and enslaved kitchen/quarters and other outlying support buildings, but to bring awareness to plight of enslaved ancestors thought community action. We all can do our small part to understand and make right to a travesty that affected so many. The effect of that institution (slavery) lingers still.
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools (Martin Luther King Jr., March 1964).
Donations to the Sharswood Foundation are tax-deductible as the foundation is a 501( c )(3) entity (EIN 88-2598753)
Our Mission
Why support this foundation?
Why support this foundation?
We focus on making the maximum positive effort in our community. Our family and volunteers provide the momentum that helps us effect positive change. We believe this would be Sharswood Foundation's fundamental core values. Using the outpouring of support of the local community and the American people; we shall provide solutions that make a long-lasting difference for the World. Together, we can!
found a place for family and friends to gather...and much more
(Lesley Stahl) Click image to watch 60 Minutes episode
Dear Mother
Family
Sharswood front