Kentucky was one of the northern most slave states but never seceded from the Union during the Civil War.  Records (Collins, 1882, p. 261) indicate the population of Oldham County had 4,815 whites and 2,431 slaves in 1860 prior to the onset of the Civil War.

The system of slavery in Oldham County was a robust business for landowners whose successes would have been impossible without this labor force. Top dollar for a young male enslaved adult in 1850 would be $1,200 equivalent in purchasing power today of $48,000. The system of slavery added a profitable tax addition to the counties infrastructure and court system.  Slave trafficking was an investment that benefitted local infrastructures because slaves were taxed along with a person’s assets like land, livestock, etc.

Many enslaved people in Oldham County were transplanted to the county by slaveholding families from Virginia who had received large land grants and pensions awarded for Revolutionary War service.  The higher the ranking officers the larger the land grants, most of which were passed down through sons and grandsons or sold to prominent families.  The enslaved laborers cleared the farms, plowed the fields, and served the household.

The Harrods Creek Burial Grounds is located on land that was part of a large land grant distributed to the Henshaw family from Virginia and serves as a typical example of the use of slave laborers to establish farms in Oldham County.

Who were the Henshaws?

Hermitage Farm, located in Goshen, was created and expanded from a 1,330 acre land grant purchased by Captain John Henshaw of Essex County , Va., from General Hugh Mercer after the Revolutionary War.  One of Captain Henshaw’s children, John Henshaw of Orange County, Va., inherited this parcel of land and gave 1,000 acres each to his sons, Philip Telfair Henshaw and James Henshaw. These parcels adjoined each other.  Phillip Telfair Henshaw created Hermitage Farm.

Philip Telfair Henshaw (1800-1835) married Sarah Ann Scott (1802-1862) on July 24, 1824.  They moved to Kentucky and built the present house named “Hermitage” from 1832-1835. No other family but the Henshaws and their descendants lived on the farm until it was sold in 1936 to Warner Jones who made it a profitable thoroughbred horse farm operation. The farm has been divided into large parcels today, and the back parcel, now owned by Eleanor Bingham Miller, contains the Harrods Creek Farm Burial Ground.

The Hermitage farmhouse was begun in 1832 and completed in 1836.  The work during the last year was chiefly elaborate woodwork.  The furniture was all done by hand by a cabinetmaker at Brownsboro named Burkett Carden. The more plain furniture pieces were made by him at the house, but the turned pieces (the dining table, high tables, some of the beds, a bureau) were made in his shop in Brownsboro where he had his turning lathe.  Most of the furniture was made of wild cherry that grew right on the plantation.

The corners of the house were set in the cardinal points of the compass/  The parlor is in the north corner, the sitting room in the west corner, the father’s room in the south corner, a little room in the east corner, so the front door faces directly northwest.  The house was built by 30 slaves which Sarah Ann Scott had brought with her from Orange County, Virginia.  The oversight of the erection of the house was in the hands of Mr. Carder.  Just before the completion of the Hermitage home, Philip and Sarah Ann made a visit to Capt. Henshaw’s home in Virginia.  At that time Philip contracted typhoid fever and died.  Sarah Ann Scott returned to Hermitage a widow and with their 3 children. Sarah Ann was accompanied by her brother, Garrett, when she returned with the children, to Hermitage after Philip died.  The three children of Philip and Sarah Ann were:  Sarah Ann Elizabeth Henshaw (1825-1902), John Scott Henshaw (1827-1883) and Lucy Mary Jane Henshaw (1831-1899). 

Slaveholding and the Henshaw Family

Census and tax records indicate both Sarah Ann Henshaw along with her brother-in-law, James Henshaw, (adjoining property owner), had large slave holdings.  Sarah’s records show a between 20 and 30 laborers listed on Census records between 1840 leading up to the Civil War.  James Henshaw records average between 30 and 40 enslaved people, and on the 1860 census indicate all males on the census, between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. This would be an expensive holding that implies active trading.  A nearby landowner, Ralph Tarlton, has been identified in archives records and from written records of past local historian Lucien Rule, as an active slave trader.  Other census records of surrounding landowners (Barbours, Clores, Adams, Berry, Taylor, Snowdens and others) show a large amount of slaveholdings that vary starting at 10 and upwards to 40 enslaved laborers on these farms. 

A Hidden History

Eleanor Bingham Miller indicated the Harrods Creek Farm Burial Grounds were hidden in a large, overgrown thicket of trees, shrubs and weeds.  The area where the burial ground is located is surrounded by large crops soybeans, corn and hemp.  The open fields are used as a training area for equestrian events and it was noted that horses would stop when approaching the thicket area, attempting to avoid the area altogether.  It was enough of a problem that riders began training away from the site. 

One of Eleanor’s children investigated the thicket more thoroughly and noticed stones hidden among the brush, that seemed to be placed intentionally. Eleanor hired archaeologist Phil Diblasi from the University of Louisville to bring his students and conduct an archaeology survey of the site.

On May 14, 2013 an Archaeology Site Form was registered as 150L with the Office of State Archaeology with following comments:

The site does not meet the criteria for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a simple cemetery with approximately 25, simple unmarked limestone headstones and foot stones.  It is believed to be a slave cemetery. The area is covered with vinca minor (graveyard ivy).  There are a few trees present. All the trees are less than 50 years old. The surrounding area is presently used for agricultural purposes.

The cemetery is circumscribed by the remnants of a wagon/buggy road. The road is clearly visible on the south, west and portions of the northwest side. The road is vaguely traceable on the east and southeast sides.

The surface manifestation of the cemetery appears undisturbed and only modified on the east and southeast margins, due to agricultural activity.  The condition of human remains and associated material culture are, at present, unknown.  The exact number of graves is unknown. The period of use is unknown but assumed to be prior to 1864.

Following directions of the archaeologist Phil DiBlasi, property owner Eleanor Bingham Miller had the burial site cleared and trees were felled.  Remaining tree stumps were injected with mushroom mycelium to destroy the tree stumps.

Harrods Creek Farm Burial Site Today

The injection of mycelium on the tree trunks caused decomposition and the site is now cleared.  The small gravestones are easily visible along with many more depressions on the site, indicating more burials are possible. The landowner planted a series of Juniper virginianis (Cedar)  trees around the circular wagon roadbed, which helped to define the grounds.  In 2020 the Oldham County History Center entered into a partnership with landowner Eleanor Bingham Miller to help preserve, protect and develop education and research on this burial site.  The Oldham County History Center leads tours to the site on an annual basis.  Several public programs have been held at the farm including the Slave Dwelling Project presented by Joseph McGill, Jr. 

In 2023 the Oldham County History Center honored Eleanor Bingham Miller as the Champion of Oldham County History.  The history center placed a limestone cut stone, taken from the first courthouse jail, located at Westport at the burial grounds.  A prayer, composed by Ms. Bingham Miller about the burial site, was engraved on a bronze plaque, placed on the limestone block, at what is believed to be the entrance of the burial grounds.

Future activities include:

*Nomination of the site to the National Park Service African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act

*Continued research on farms, geneaology records, slave court records and stories related to enslavement in the vicinity and about the Henshaw family

*Continued educational programs and events at the site

*Ground imaging to help identify burials

The following is on the memorial plaque at the burial site:

A Prayer for Healing and Forgiveness

On behalf of my family and my neighbor land owners we gratefully acknowledge we stand on land inhabited by native peoples for millennia.

We stand on land cleared and made productive for generations through the relentless exploitation of enslaved peoples.

We do not turn away from the roots of what made us here today.

We hereby declare our commitment to make the promise of Truth and Reconciliation real in this community.

If we have the courage and bravery that matches that of the ones who were here before, our souls and our nation will be healed.

And though we do not know their names, today we honor the spirits of those buried here and now departed to return to the Sky and to their Makers.

Amen

Eleanor Bingham Miller

Sept. 16, 2021

Harrods Creek Farm Burial Grounds Prayer

Eleanor Bingham Miller