Club Business
Mary Thomas Gilbert convened a Zoom meeting at 4 pm on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, for our club only. Pete led us in prayer and a recitation of the pledge of allegiance to our flag. Mary Thomas introduced visiting Rotarian and past DG from Montana, Rick Moore, who recently moved to the area to be near his daughter. He is an Environmental Engineer whose skills are portable. He wants to join a local club, and we hope he lands at ours. The next Feed the Hunger Packathon has been scheduled for June 18th from 6:30 until 8 pm at Holly Hill Mall. This will be their 10th adversary of packing meals, during which time over 26 million meals have been provided for hungry people around the world.
We learned that we will get to meet in person again at Burlington Beer Works on Tuesday, June 30. We will install our new officers and board members for 2020-21 on that day. Don’t miss it!
Happy Dollars
- Pete announced that his Dad turned 92 today. He and his Mom celebrated 70 years of marriage last Sunday.
Program: Mark Chilton – Events Leading to the Battle of Alamance
Pete introduced Mark Chilton, who is the Register of Deeds in Orange County. Pete said that Mark helped him locate the property of his 6th Great Grandfather on the Deep River in Randolph County. Mark has made a hobby of locating the original Earl of Granville land grants. He is the author of several books on the history of Orange, Alamance, and Chatham Counties. He graduated from the NC Central University Law School in 1997 and served as mayor of Carrboro before taking his present job.
Mark said the poor subsistence farmers from our area who eventually rioted in Hillsborough in 1770 felt hopeless and powerless to correct the injustice and corruption in the legal and taxation system in Orange County. The rich legislators and power brokers in the eastern part of the state worked together with local sheriffs, registers of deeds, and judges in what
were called courthouse rings to insure that abuses were never corrected or brought to justice. Sheriffs chose juries, which protected the ring leaders. Money was being embezzled by local figures, which defrauded both the farmers all the way up to even Lord Granville himself. When farmers were unable to pay their taxes, their property was often confiscated and sold at auction well below actual value to cover the debt to others who were in on the deal. Small debts were taken to court where added legal fees sometimes doubled the amount owed. On top of this, there was not even enough silver coin in the colony for everyone to pay their taxes. After enduring this setup for years, the Regulators elected men to the assembly in New Bern, which was difficult since votes were voiced aloud in front of the sheriff. Once in office these representatives were prevented from getting anything done by the power brokers in the eastern establishment. Once all hope of legal redress was lost, some of the farmers resorted to violence, which ultimately led to the Battle of Alamance.
Even though the Regulators lost the battle, many of their ideas and requests for change were later put into law. In that sense, their cause was a long term success. The battle has been billed by some as the first engagement of the Revolution, but that is not so in a strict sense. The Regulators were not trying to throw off the King’s rule; rather, they were trying to regulate corrupt practices. Mark pointed out, however, that ideologically the battle did fit into the grand scheme of the Revolution in that common citizens dared to stand up for their rights.
This September will be the 250th anniversary of the Hillsborough riots, and next May will be the same anniversary for the Battle. Mark encouraged us to support this as a club and recommended we talk to Sam Powell with Alamance Battleground Friends about how this might be accomplished. Richard Atkins asked what lesson can be learned, to which Mark responded that the good work of the lawful protestors was undone by those who resorted to violence.
Conclusion
Mary Thomas concluded by leading us in reciting the Four Way Test.