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Local figure

Lydia

Hillsborough's commissioners voted in March 2021 to rename Thomas Ruffin Street as Lydia Lane for Lydia, the enslaved woman whom John Mann shot and injured as she ran from punishment. Ruffin, a Hillsborough resident, ruled in her 1829 case that slave owners could not be criminally punished for battery on an enslaved person.

Source: Chapelboro, 97.9 The Hill WCHL: Hillsborough Approves Removal of Thomas Ruffin From Street Name

Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Lydia. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Lydia’s life and work. If you know a useful source, tell us.

Research sources

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 2 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Thomas Ruffin issues the State v. Mann decision Thomas Ruffin of Hillsborough, newly seated on the North Carolina Supreme Court, wrote the opinion in State v. Mann, overturning the conviction of John Mann of Edenton for shooting Lydia, an enslaved woman he had hired, as she fled a whipping. Ruffin held that a master's power must be absolute, and abolitionists later cited the ruling widely. People: Thomas Ruffin, LydiaAfrican American Intellectual History Society, Black Perspectives: Sally Greene, State v. Mann: Lydia's Journey (February 23, 2022)
  2. Hillsborough renames Thomas Ruffin Street as Lydia Lane The Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to rename the street for Lydia, the enslaved woman shot by John Mann in the case Thomas Ruffin decided. All twelve households on the street had petitioned for a new name and had first proposed Hope Lane; Commissioner Mark Bell suggested using Lydia's name, and Commissioner Kathleen Ferguson made the motion to approve. People: Thomas RuffinSearch the index · Chapelboro, 97.9 The Hill WCHL: Hillsborough Approves Removal of Thomas Ruffin From Street Name

Named with them in the chronology

People named in the same dated entries as Lydia, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Research sources

Resources picked for this person, each with a note on what it holds. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further.

Background

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Lydia Library card An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read
  • Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries

Local help

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Books about Lydia

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Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

Searched by name. The catalogs give no dates for this person, so results may include other people with the same name. The historical records searches look for the name as written, so they can turn up other people with the same name. Each link opens that catalog’s own results in a new tab. The Friends have not reviewed what they return.

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