Charles Lawson

AKA:

Charlie

Birth Name:

Charles Davis Lawson

Birth Date:

May 10, 1886

Birth Place:

Germanton, North Carolina

Death Date:

December 25, 1929

Place of Death:

Brook Cove Road, Germanton, North Carolina,

Age:

Cause of Death:

Suicide by Gun

Cemetery Name:

Browder Family Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Crime and their Victims

Charles Lawson was a North Carolina tobacco farmer born on May 10, 1886, who became infamously known for the tragic and shocking murders of his own family on Christmas Day in 1929 in Germanton, North Carolina. Lawson, reportedly a hardworking man, had recently moved his wife, Fannie, and their seven children into a new home and was thought to be relatively prosperous. Just days before the killings, he took his family to town to buy new clothes and have a formal family portrait taken—an unusual gesture that later seemed eerily significant. On December 25, 1929, Lawson brutally murdered his wife and six of their children before turning the shotgun on himself. Only his eldest son, Arthur, survived, as he had been sent into town on an errand. The motive behind the murders has remained a subject of speculation for decades, with theories ranging from financial stress and mental illness to dark rumors of incest. The case has since become a haunting part of North Carolina folklore, inspiring books, songs, and documentaries.

Not so Fun Facts

Months before the event, Lawson had sustained a head injury; some family and friends theorized that it had altered his mental state and was related to the massacre. However, an autopsy and analysis of his brain at Johns Hopkins Hospital found no abnormalities.

A close friend of Marie Lawson’s, Ella May, came forward and disclosed that a few weeks before Christmas 1929, Marie confided in her that she was pregnant by her own father and that both he and Fannie knew about this. However an autopsy found no evidence of a pregnancy and the vast majority of Lawson relatives strong dispute the allegations of incest.

Shortly after the murders, Charlie’s brother, Marion Lawson, opened the home on Brook Cove Road as a tourist attraction. A cake that Marie had baked on Christmas Day was displayed on the tour. Because visitors began to pick at the raisins on the cake to take as souvenirs, it was placed in a covered glass cakeserver for many years.

Arthur Lawson, the only surviving Lawson family member, was killed in a 1945 truck accident (age 35), leaving a wife and four children.

When the family’s belongings were auctioned at the end of January 1930, it was the murder weapons themselves which ignited the crowd. “The shotguns used to slay the seven members of his family attracted the greatest interest and went under rapid- fire bidding,” the SR&L reported. “Other articles that held intimate connection with the Christmas Day tragedy also brought favorable prices under the bidding of curiosity-seekers.”

Directions to the murder cabin that has since been removed: take Highway 52 to North 8. Follow North 8 until you eventually come up on Brookcove Road – make a right on Brookcove. Between Kenny Lane (small dirt road on left) and Watts Road is where the cabin used to be – up on a big hill (on the left). The land that Charlie owned and farmed is the land you see (on the left) where Watts Road intersects Brookcove. If you turn down Watts Road and look to your left very carefully you can see the memorial bridge on the property that was partially made with wood from the cabin.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Browder Family Cemetery

1195 Brown Mountain Road

Germantown, North Carolina, 27053

USA

North America

Grave Location:

Lawson Family Plot

Grave Location Description

Upon entering the cemetery, drive the loop that circles the graveyard and look for the LAWSON monument 2 rows from the chain-and-post boundary. Note that Arthur is buried right behind the Lawson Family monument.