"A Christmas Family Tragedy"- A Film
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 11:28 pm
On Christmas Eve, 1929, in the small town of Germanton just north of Winston-Salem in Stokes County, Charlie Lawson had taken his family to town and bought them all new dress clothes. Before leaving town, the family stopped in at the local photographer's shop and had a family portrait made. The next day, Christmas Day, Charlie Lawson killed his wife and six of his seven children. They would be buried in the new clothes Charlie had bought them.
This is the story related in the documentary, "A Christmas Family Tragedy: Legends of the 1929 Lawson Family Murders".
I have lived all around the area this happened, but never heard the story until sometime in the 80's. Evidently, the murders were a national sensation. There have been various rumors about why Charlie Lawson killed his family and there's the mystery of why he sent the eldest son into town just before the murders, ostensibly saving his life.
The film is fairly interesting, even knowing the story in advance. It is related through interviews with relatives and neighbors of the Lawsons and with a few re-enactments. If you are interested in grim local history or ghost stories from some rather credulous folks I fully recommend the film.
In the film there is also a tie in regarding another thread here at Greensboring from awhile back. That thread was a discussion about Payne Road and it's history of haunting. Payne Road is in Stokes County, the same county where the Lawsons lived and died.
This is the story related in the documentary, "A Christmas Family Tragedy: Legends of the 1929 Lawson Family Murders".
I have lived all around the area this happened, but never heard the story until sometime in the 80's. Evidently, the murders were a national sensation. There have been various rumors about why Charlie Lawson killed his family and there's the mystery of why he sent the eldest son into town just before the murders, ostensibly saving his life.
The film is fairly interesting, even knowing the story in advance. It is related through interviews with relatives and neighbors of the Lawsons and with a few re-enactments. If you are interested in grim local history or ghost stories from some rather credulous folks I fully recommend the film.
In the film there is also a tie in regarding another thread here at Greensboring from awhile back. That thread was a discussion about Payne Road and it's history of haunting. Payne Road is in Stokes County, the same county where the Lawsons lived and died.