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8 <br /> WHEREAS, on September 12, 1869, Wright Woods, alleged to have made certain remarks to a <br /> white girl, was abducted by four white men, killed and found in Little River with a note attached <br /> to his foot that read, "if the law will not protect virtue, the rope will"; and <br /> WHEREAS, on December 2, 1869, Cyrus Guy, allegedly having made a snide remark to a <br /> white woman, was taken by a mob and left hanging from a tree at the intersection of Faucette <br /> Mill Road and Lebanon Road as a sign for other"mulattos" in the area to know their place; and <br /> WHEREAS, on or about October 30,1898, Manly McCauley, an 18-year-old Black man, was <br /> seized by a mob of white men, accused of eloping with a married white woman, and lynched <br /> from a dogwood tree near current day Hatch Road and Old Greensboro Road, and the four <br /> men tried for the lynching were acquitted; and <br /> WHEREAS, in denial of their constitutional rights to a fair trial, and without the opportunity to <br /> present their defense, the afore-mentioned men were brutally executed; and <br /> WHEREAS no evidence exists to indicate that elected officials of Orange County — i.e., sheriff, <br /> commissioners, or judges — did anything to prevent these lynchings, or to prosecute those who <br /> performed, aided or abetted these actions, or were otherwise complicit in this racial terror; and <br /> WHEREAS, in contravention of their responsibilities to protect and serve all the people of <br /> Orange County, the aforementioned public servants violated their oaths of office; <br /> NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners does <br /> hereby acknowledge that criminal acts of racial terror lynching were committed against <br /> numerous named and unnamed individuals, including Daniel Morrow, Jefferson Morrow, Cyrus <br /> Guy, Wright Woods and Manly McCauley; and <br /> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners now apologizes <br /> to all victims of racial terror lynching in Orange County perpetrated or condoned by past Orange <br /> County elected officials; and <br /> BE IT MOREOVER RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners <br /> herewith expresses our deepest sympathies to the families and descendants for all women and <br /> men who were murdered by racial terror lynching, and for the denial of their dignity and basic <br /> human rights. <br /> This the 20t" day of September, 2022. <br /> Renee A. Price, Chair <br /> Orange County Board of <br /> Commissioners <br /> A motion was made by Commissioner Richards, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, <br /> to approve and authorize the chair to sign the resolution. <br /> VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />