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8 <br /> 1 <br /> 2 WHEREAS, on December 2, 1869, Cyrus Guy, allegedly having made a snide remark to a white <br /> 3 woman, was taken by a mob and left hanging from a tree at the intersection of Faucette Mill <br /> 4 Road and Lebanon Road as a sign for other"mulattos" in the area to know their place; and <br /> 5 <br /> 6 WHEREAS, on or about October 30,1898, Manly McCauley, an 18-year-old Black man, was <br /> 7 seized by a mob of white men, accused of eloping with a married white woman, and lynched <br /> 8 from a dogwood tree near current day Hatch Road and Old Greensboro Road, and the four men <br /> 9 tried for the lynching were acquitted; and <br /> 10 <br /> 11 WHEREAS, in denial of their constitutional rights to a fair trial, and without the opportunity to <br /> 12 present their defense, the afore-mentioned men were brutally executed; and <br /> 13 <br /> 14 WHEREAS no evidence exists to indicate that elected officials of Orange County — i.e., sheriff, <br /> 15 commissioners, or judges — did anything to prevent these lynchings, or to prosecute those who <br /> 16 performed, aided or abetted these actions, or were otherwise complicit in this racial terror; and <br /> 17 <br /> 18 WHEREAS, in contravention of their responsibilities to protect and serve all the people of <br /> 19 Orange County, the aforementioned public servants violated their oaths of office; <br /> 20 <br /> 21 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners does <br /> 22 hereby acknowledge that criminal acts of racial terror lynching were committed against <br /> 23 numerous named and unnamed individuals, including Daniel Morrow, Jefferson Morrow, Cyrus <br /> 24 Guy, Wright Woods and Manly McCauley; and <br /> 25 <br /> 26 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners now apologizes <br /> 27 to all victims of racial terror lynching in Orange County perpetrated or condoned by past Orange <br /> 28 County elected officials; and <br /> 29 <br /> 30 BE IT MOREOVER RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners <br /> 31 herewith expresses our deepest sympathies to the families and descendants for all women and <br /> 32 men who were murdered by racial terror lynching, and for the denial of their dignity and basic <br /> 33 human rights. <br /> 34 <br /> 35 This the 20th day of September, 2022. <br /> 36 <br /> 37 <br /> 38 Renee A. Price, Chair <br /> 39 Orange County Board of <br /> 40 Commissioners <br /> 41 <br /> 42 <br /> 43 A motion was made by Commissioner Richards, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, <br /> 44 to approve and authorize the chair to sign the resolution. <br /> 45 <br /> 46 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> 47 <br /> 48 Commissioner Bedford said it is never too late to make apologies like this as a basic <br /> 49 step in the right direction. She thanked Chair Price and Commissioner Richards for bringing this <br /> 50 resolution forward. <br />