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Shawnee National Forest
50 Hwy. 145 South
Harrisburg, IL 62946
Phone: 618-253-7114 - From a TTY call 711 to be connected.
FAX: (618) 253-1060

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.



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News Release

USDA Forest Service
Eastern Region

01-Oct-2004
Local Contact: Lisa Roper 618-253-7114

Archaeology of the Spirit on the Shawnee National Forest
By: Mary McCorvie

This was our sixth year of archaeological excavations at Miller Grove. In the past, these excavations have been aimed at uncovering bits and pieces of past life in this ante bellum, Black ghost town. This year Forest Service staff and nine Passport in Time (PIT) volunteers continued to excavate in and around the foundation remnants of Bedford and Abby Gill Miller’s farm. We also began a new project researching the Miller Grove School and church. As with many rural communities, life at Miller Grove revolved around the Mt. Gilead African Methodist Episcopal Church. The church and school were housed in the same building. The first church was built of log and later replaced by a frame structure. In 1918 the frame building was burned as a result of arson, but it was reportedly rebuilt nearby. It was named for the Biblical Mt. Gilead. According the Book of Genesis, Mt. Gilead is a hilly or mountainous country between slavery (for Jacob) and Canaan. That is a very accurate description of Miller Grove in the Shawnee Hills between slavery in the South and freedom in Canaan land, an Underground Railroad code word for Canada.

Education was also very important to these African American settlers. Their first priority was to set up a school within their community. Learning how to read was of primary importance. It was not only necessary to become financially successful, but it was a privilege that had been withheld by owners out of fear of slave insurrections. At Miller Grove, Julia Singleton was listed in the 1860 Census as a Black schoolteacher!

We thought it was appropriate to celebrate this 50th anniversary of the landmark decision by the Supreme Court in the Brown vs. the Board of Education to begin archaeological explorations into the school system here at Miller Grove and uncover a little bit more of our African American heritage!
USDA Forest Service - Eastern Region
Last modified: Friday, 01 October 2004
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