Racial-terror lynchings in Orange County

In the chronology

Episodes in this history, earliest first. Each has its own page.

Other dated events here, earliest first. See these 17 dated events in the chronology →

1. late 1867 or early 1868 The White Brotherhood, a Ku Klux order, appears in Orange County The first Klan-type order to reach North Carolina, the White Brotherhood, set up camps including one at Hillsborough. Its Orange County chief was Colonel Joseph C. Webb, followed by Frederick N. Strudwick. People: Frederick N. StrudwickLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 116
2. August 7–October 14, 1869 Washington Morrow, Thomas Jefferson Morrow and Daniel Morrow are lynched Early on August 7, 1869, about 100 disguised white men took Washington Morrow and his brother Nelson from the Hillsborough jail, where they were held on barn-burning charges, and shot Washington as they fled; he died of the wound. On October 14 a mob hanged their father, Thomas Jefferson Morrow, and their uncle, Daniel Morrow. People: Washington Morrow, Daniel Morrow, Jefferson MorrowJames Madison University, Memorializing Racial Terror: The Lynching of Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Daniel Morrow
3. summer 1869 Klansmen take two Black prisoners from jail and shoot one of them A few nights after three barns burned in late July 1869, two Black men accused of another barn burning were taken from jail. One was let go; the other was shot and died.Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 118
4. September 6, 1869 Wright Malone is abducted and lynched near Little River On the night of September 6, 1869, four mounted men took Wright Malone, a young Black farmer, from the coal kiln he was burning with his father near Little River in eastern Orange County. A neighbor found his body hanging from a tree on September 12, and the coroner concluded the killing had been planned in advance. People: Wright MaloneOrange County Community Remembrance Coalition: Those We Honor
5. About November 29, 1869 Cyrus Guy is lynched by a masked mob in western Orange County A masked mob seized Cyrus Guy, a 24-year-old Afro-Indigenous farmer from a free family of color, and hanged him from a tree on the High Rock Road near the Alamance County line, above the county poorhouse. The Hillsborough Recorder reported that an inquest held under Sheriff Turner found out nothing, and Ben Johnson recalled in 1937 that the body was left hanging for four days. People: Cyrus GuyOrange County Community Remembrance Coalition: Those We Honor
6. 1871 William L. Saunders of Chapel Hill refuses to answer the congressional Klan committee Called before the joint committee on affairs in the insurrectionary states, Saunders, whom the book names as head of the Invisible Empire in North Carolina, declined to answer 53 questions about the Ku Klux.Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 117-118
7. January 31, 1871 Hillsborough constable describes Orange County Klan killings to a U.S. Senate committee W. G. Turrentine, a Hillsborough constable, told the Senate select committee in Washington that five Black men had been killed in Orange County and many people whipped, some for voting Republican. He described how, in August 1869, 75 to 100 disguised men forced the Hillsborough jail and shot a prisoner held on a barn-burning charge, who died.Internet Archive: Report on the Alleged Outrages in the Southern States, Senate Select Committee, March 10, 1871
8. January–March 1871 U.S. Senate committee hears Orange County testimony on Klan violence A Senate select committee created on January 19, 1871 took testimony in Washington on Klan violence in North Carolina. Orange County witnesses, including Hillsborough constable W. G. Turrentine, court clerk George Laws and editor Josiah Turner Jr., described the 1869 jail raid, hangings and whippings in the county. The committee reported on March 10, 1871.U.S. Senate: Report on the Alleged Outrages in the Southern States by the Select Committee of the Senate, March 10, 1871 (Internet Archive)
9. October 26, 1898 Manly McCauley and Maggie Brewer leave the Brewer farm west of Chapel Hill On a Wednesday afternoon Maggie Brewer, wife of the farmer Milton Brewer, left the family farm four miles west of Chapel Hill with Manly McCauley, an eighteen-year-old Black farmhand who had worked there about a year. A posse of eighteen men led by her husband set out after them on Friday and overtook the pair beyond Jonesboro. People: Manly McCauleyDigitalNC: The News and Observer (Raleigh), November 17, 1898, page 5
10. Late October 1898 Manly McCauley is lynched near Carrboro Manly McCauley, an 18-year-old Black farmhand, left Milton Brewer's farm west of Chapel Hill with Brewer's wife on October 26, 1898. A posse caught them beyond Jonesboro, and on the way back masked men took McCauley from the officer holding him and hanged him. His body was found on November 6, about three miles west of Chapel Hill. People: Manly McCauleyJames Madison University, Memorializing Racial Terror: The Lynching of Manly McCauley
11. November 6, 1898 Manly McCauley's body is found hanging from a tree three miles west of Chapel Hill A farmer, Thomas Myrick, found McCauley's body hanging from a bent dogwood beside the public road some three miles west of Chapel Hill, a week after masked men had taken him from the officer bringing him back. Coroner Jordan was telegraphed to hold an inquest. People: Manly McCauleyDigitalNC: Charlotte Daily Observer, November 8, 1898, page 4
12. November 7, 1898 W. A. Guthrie urges Chapel Hill voters to the polls for the white supremacy ticket the day after McCauley's body is found With McCauley's body found the previous afternoon, Major W. A. Guthrie spoke at Chapel Hill on election eve, appealing to white voters to cast their ballots for the party of white supremacy; A. L. Brooks, the Democratic candidate for solicitor, followed him. The state election was held the next day.DigitalNC: Charlotte Daily Observer, November 8, 1898, page 4
13. November 1898 Jesse King, the officer who held McCauley, is tried and acquitted at Hillsborough King, returning alone to Chapel Hill with his prisoner, was met by masked men who overpowered him and hanged McCauley from a dogwood. Tried at Hillsboro for permitting the prisoner to be taken from him by the mob, he was acquitted; the News and Observer used the trial to confirm that the lynching had in fact happened. People: Manly McCauleyDigitalNC: The News and Observer (Raleigh), November 17, 1898, page 5
14. July 22, 1965 The Ku Klux Klan calls a rally in a field across from the General Sherman Restaurant Robed Klansmen handed out bills in Hillsborough for a night rally at Interstate 85 and US 70, where scores of hooded members were expected in a field across from the General Sherman Restaurant.DigitalNC: The Daily Tar Heel, July 22, 1965, p. 4
15. October 1965 A House committee names the Sportsman's Lakeside Lodge as the Klan unit in Orange County The House Un-American Activities Committee, investigating the Ku Klux Klan, named the Sportsman's Lakeside Lodge as the Klan organization in Orange County. Sheriff C. B. Knight told the Daily Tar Heel that three Klan meetings had been held in the county recently.DigitalNC: The Daily Tar Heel, October 22, 1965, p. 1
16. November 2019 The Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition collects soil at the site of Manly McCauley's lynching On a Saturday morning on Carl Drive, McCauley family members, clergy and coalition members gathered at the spot where he is believed to have been hanged; elders of Hickory Grove Missionary Baptist Church blessed soil that was jarred for the family. A program with the Equal Justice Initiative followed at the church. People: James WilliamsNews of Orange County: Orange County Community Rememberance Coalition holds ceremony to honor Manly McCauley (November 20, 2019)
17. February 18, 2024 Carrboro unveils a marker honoring Manly McCauley On February 18, 2024, the Town of Carrboro, the Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition and the Equal Justice Initiative unveiled a historical marker beside Carrboro Town Hall for Manly McCauley. McCauley, an 18-year-old Black farmhand, was lynched by a white mob in 1898 near Hatch Road and Old Greensboro Road, west of Carrboro. People: Manly McCauleyChapelboro: Carrboro, Remembrance Coalition Unveil Marker to Manly McCauley 125 Years After His Lynching