PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – The unique story of the Miller Family and the Sharswood Plantation has been spread globally by word of mouth and the media.
But now – there is a physical form of the story, documenting the tedious process of tracking down the family’s enslaved ancestors.
“I don’t have the vocabulary to describe that feeling of just being able to connect to who I am. Who my ancestors are.”
Sonya Womack-Miranda’s cousin Fred Miller bought the Sharswood Plantation in Gretna in 2021.
The Miller family later found out that their ancestors were once enslaved there thanks to Womack-Miranda’s research.
She has since written a book, “Un-named, The Search for Sarah Miller” detailing how she discovered who their great-great grandmother was despite the lack of documentation for slaves in the 1800s.
“They’re unnamed. They’re slaves. They do not appear in the census until 1870 by name before 1870. When I added violet Miller to my tree in ancestry, It connected my third great grandmother violet as being a 28 year old, enslaved black woman and her owner NC. Miller. That’s the original owner of the Miller Sharswood plantation. That’s how we know we’re connected to that plantation.”
Now, after two years of research and even traveling to Ghana where her lineage traced back to, Womack-Miranda feels complete.
“I no longer feel disconnected from my roots. I feel completely and utterly whole, as an African American female knowing who I am.”
She hopes her book can help others feel the same way.
“If you don’t tell the story of your family, the history will die with you. That’s what I want them to get. There’s a sense of urgency, you have to gather the information, the clues. With the advent of technology if you talk to those oral historians in your family, you can do it too.”
LL: You can buy the book on Amazon and there will be a book signing at Shadetree Rare Books in Chatham on Saturday morning at 10 o clock.
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