King and Queen Board adopts resolution acknowledging 1923 lynching of James Horace Carter; proclaims Oct. 12 Remembrance Day

The King and Queen County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Aug. 14 to adopt a resolution acknowledging the 1923 lynching of James Horace Carter and to proclaim Oct. 12 as James Horace Carter Remembrance Day in the county.

The resolution, adopted on a motion by S. C. Alsop and seconded by D. H. Morris, states that Carter, a 45-year-old African American husband and father, was seized while being transported by sheriff’s deputies on Oct. 12, 1923, shot multiple times by a mob and left in a ditch, and that no one was prosecuted in the case. It says the county "expresses its deepest sympathies and most solemn regrets" and commits the county to restorative justice and to remembering the atrocity so it is not repeated.

Bessida White Cauthorne presented a list of organizations endorsing the historical-marker dedication and related events, including the King and Queen County Democratic Committee, the King and Queen County NAACP, the King and Queen Historical Society (The Tavern Museum), Mattaponi Friends Meeting, New Mount Zion Baptist Church, Third Union Baptist Church, and Zion Baptist Church. The Tavern Museum will house a soil sample from the lynching site and the Historical Society will host a reception following the marker dedication.

The resolution also references broader historical context cited in the text — including that more than 4,000 documented lynchings took place across the South between 1877 and 1950 and that over 100 occurred in Virginia — language drawn from the adopted text. A historical highway marker honoring Carter is scheduled for dedication Oct. 14, 2023, under the Virginia Board of Historic Resources' approval.

The Board adopted the resolution unanimously (AYES: S. C. Alsop; J. L. Simpkins; R. F. Bailey, Jr.; D. H. Morris; J. M. Burns).