Charles Lawson, a Stokes County tobacco farmer, shocked the nation on Christmas Day 1929 when he murdered his wife and six of their seven children before taking his own life.
Charles Lawson
Charles Lawson | Family Annihilation
Crime Spree: December 25, 1929
- Full Name: Charles Davis Lawson
- Born: May 10, 1886, Lawsonville, North Carolina, USA
- Died: December 25, 1929, Germanton, North Carolina, USA
- Age at Death: 43 years old
- Cause of Death: Suicide (gunshot)
- Crime Date: December 25, 1929 (Christmas Day)
- Location of Crimes: Germanton, Stokes County, North Carolina
- Victims: 7 (wife and six of his seven children)
- Survivors: Eldest son, Arthur (sent on an errand prior to murders)
- Method: Shotgun and blunt force trauma
- Occupation: Farmer (tobacco)
- Notoriety: Perpetrator of the “Christmas Day Massacre”
Classification & Characteristics
Charles Lawson is typically classified as a family annihilator, a subtype of mass murderer who turns on his own household in a sudden act of violence. His actions display elements of both spree killing – the murders were carried out in quick succession – and psychological unraveling, as later reports suggested he had exhibited erratic behavior in the weeks leading up to the killings. Unlike serial killers driven by compulsion or lust, Lawson’s crime appears rooted in a volatile mix of financial hardship, possible head trauma from an earlier accident, and suppressed rage or despair. His method – systematically murdering each family member before taking his own life – suggests a grim determination to erase not only his loved ones but also himself, a final act of destructive control that transformed a quiet farmer into one of the most infamous family annihilators in American history.
Charles Lawson | Family Annihilation
The Story
Charles Lawson was born on May 10th in 1886. He was an American tobacco farmer from Stokes County, North Carolina who is remembered for having committed one of the most notorious mass murders in the state’s history on Christmas Day in 1929.
The Background of Charles Lawson
Charles Lawson’s parents, Augustus and Nancy, lived in the unincorporated community known as Lawsonville, located ten miles from Danbury, the Stokes county seat. He was born there and, in 1911, married Fannie Manring. They had eight children, but the third, William, born in 1914, died of an illness in 1920.
In 1918, following the move of his younger brothers, Marion and Elijah, to the Germantown area, Charles followed suit with his family. The Lawson brothers worked as sharecroppers, saving enough money by 1927 to buy their own farm on Brook Cove Road.
Charles Lawson and Mass Murder
In 1929, shortly before Christmas, Charles Lawson took his family (37-year-old wife Fannie and their children: Arthur, 16; Marie, 17; Carrie, 12; Maybell; 7, James, 4; Raymond, 2; and Mary Lou, 4 months) into town to buy new clothes and to have a family portrait taken. Since they were far from wealthy, this seemed unusual. (The new clothes ultimately became their burial outfits.)
On that same day, Charles began the slaughter with his daughters, Carrie and Maybell, who were setting out to their uncle and aunt’s house. Lawson waited for them by the tobacco barn. When they were in range, he shot them with a shotgun, then ensured that they were dead by bludgeoning them. He then placed the bodies in the tobacco barn.
Afterwards, he returned to the house and shot Fannie, who was on the porch. As soon as the gun was fired, Marie, who was inside, screamed, while the two small boys, James and Raymond, attempted to find a hiding place.
The Oldest Son of Charles Lawson
Charles Lawson shot Marie and then found, and shot, the two boys. Lastly, he killed the baby, Mary Lou. It is thought that she was bludgeoned to death. After the murders, he went into the nearby woods and, a few hours later, shot himself.
The only survivor was his eldest son, 16 year-old Arthur, whom he had sent on an errand just before starting his deadly deed. The bodies of the family members were found with their arms crossed and rocks under their heads. The gunshot signaling Charles Lawson’s own suicide was heard by the many people who learned of the gruesome event on the property and had already gathered there. A police officer who was with Charles Lawson ran down and found Charles dead and letters to his parents. As footprints encircled the tree it was supposed that he had been pacing around the tree prior to taking his life.
The Rumors Of Why
There were rumors as to why Charles Lawson would take the lives of himself and his family. It was speculated that Charles did not murder his family at all, but rather made to look that way and then staged to look as though Charles had committed suicide.
One of these explanations was that Charles had witnessed an organized crime incident, and had been found out, and he and his family were murdered for it. Another involves a black man Charlie had started a fight with. Neither of these rumors seemed plausible, or could fit with the facts.
All signs then, obviously, pointed to a murder/suicide.
The Theory of Incest
It was not until the book White Christmas, Bloody Christmas, was published in 1990 that a strong claim surfaced. On interviewing many people regarding the Lawson family murder, the book’s authors, M. Bruce Jones and Trudy J. Smith, found that several people recounted rumors and stories regarding Charles, Marie and incest.
Even more evidence was revealed in the book ‘The meaning of Our Tears’ Maybe the most convincing evidence yet came from a close friend of Marie Lawson’s, Ella May. She claims that just weeks before Christmas, Marie told her that she was pregnant and that it was Charles’. Ella May also said that Charles and Fannie knew about this.
Hill Hampton, another close friend and neighbor to the Lawson family was interviewed. He said that he knew of serious problems going on within the family, and he knew the nature of the problem, but that it was personal, and he chose not to reveal what it was.
In The Aftermath
Shortly after the murders, Charles’ brother, Marion Lawson, opened the home on Brook Cove Road as a tourist attraction. A cake that Marie Lawson 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 cake dish and thus preserved for many years.
Among the many remembrances of the event is a folk song entitled, “The Murder of the Lawson Family.” This song was recorded by the Stanley Brothers in March 1956, released by Columbia Records on the CD “An evening long ago” in 2004.
source: murderpedia | wikipedia } criminalminds.fandom
📚 Additional Resources
- Wikipedia – Murder of the Lawson family – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_the_Lawson_family Wikipedia
- NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources – “The Story of the Lawson Family”
- PlanetSlade – “So hard to die: Murder of the Lawson Family”
📚 Further Reading / Watching
- “A Christmas Family Tragedy” (2006) – film / documentary
- IMDb listing: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1414143/ IMDb
- YouTube – “Deadly Secrets: The Lawson Family Murder”
- Podcast – “Episode 156: Blame No One But I: The Lawson Family Murders” (Southern Mysteries Podcast)
- The Meaning of Our Tears: The True Story of the Lawson Family
- The Meaning of Our Tears (alternate edition)
- The Day the Snow Bled
- A Child in the Midst: The Memoirs of Stella Lawson Boles
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- Court / Legal Documents
- As of current publicly available records, there is no formal criminal trial, prosecution, or court transcripts for Charles Lawson, since he died by suicide immediately after committing the murders.
- The lack of trial means there is no defense counsel record, no cross-examination, no sentencing transcripts, or official judicial opinions.
- Post-mortem, investigators gathered statements, inquest records, and police reports from the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office, local law enforcement, and coroner’s office. These inquest and coroner records constitute the only “legal documentation” of the event.
- Some early newspaper coverage (e.g. Greensboro Daily News, Statesville Record & Landmark) published police summaries or statements from investigators. These are often cited in retrospective accounts. Planet Slade+3Apple Podcasts+3Wikipedia+3
- Psychological / Medical Evaluations
- There is speculation in many secondary sources that Lawson may have sustained a head injury in earlier years, possibly contributing to mental disturbance. Wikipedia+2NC DNCR+2
- However, an autopsy and examination of his brain at Johns Hopkins Hospital reportedly found “no abnormalities.” This is often cited in academic and popular accounts as a counter to the head-injury hypothesis. Wikipedia
- No record is known of a formal psychiatric evaluation prior to or during the event, likely because Lawson was unavailable for such (dead) and mental health protocols were rudimentary in 1929 in rural North Carolina.
- Many later biographers and true-crime writers (e.g. authors of White Christmas, Bloody Christmas) have speculated about psychological factors—mental despair, family conflict, possible incest, financial stress—but these remain conjectural without clinical documentation.
- Archival / Primary Sources
- Coroner’s inquest files in Stokes County, North Carolina. Local records offices, possibly in county archives, might retain inquest logs, witness depositions, and autopsy notes.
- Sheriff’s and police reports from December 1929, including crime scene notes, evidence inventories, statements from neighbors and Arthur Lawson (the surviving son).
- Newspaper archives from 1929–1930, especially local papers (e.g., Greensboro Daily News, Statesville Record & Landmark, Twin-City Sentinel), often preserved in state or university microfilm collections.
- Historical departments / state archives in North Carolina, particularly the Division of State Archives or the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources (DNCR). For instance, the DNCR has a blog post summarizing the event and referencing archival materials. NC DNCR
- Genealogical / census records, such as the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, state birth/death records, property deeds, and wills, which help verify family composition, property ownership, and living arrangements prior to the murders. (Often cited in the Wikipedia article) Wikipedia
- Photographs and artifacts – the famous pre-Christmas family portrait (which Lawson had the family take shortly before the murders) is reproduced in many sources. Wikipedia+2NC DNCR+2
- Oral histories / family documents – memoirs (for example, A Child in the Midst: The Memoirs of Stella Lawson Boles) may provide personal recollections or family lore passed down after the event.
