White Christmas, bloody Christmas by M. Bruce Jones, Trudy J Smith Page B
Authors: M. Bruce Jones, Trudy J Smith
Tags: Murder, Lawson family
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leaves he could to the market. The leaves would spend some time waiting in the packhouse before it could be sold and the most effective way to keep the moisture content correct was to have a basement under the floor of the building. The moisture from the open ground would do a perfect job of maintaining the leaves until it was time to sell them. Soon after moving to the farm, Charlie began the job of digging a basement for his new tobacco packhouse.
Once the basement had been created, it was necessary to dig a drainage ditch so that excess water could escape from beneath the building. Charlie had paid little attention to the fence that ran a foot or two behind the packhouse. As he rythmically swung his maddock into the ground to break up chunks of earth, the very tip of it caught on the wire. The maddock recoiled and struck Charlie's forehead. The injury was nasty looking and Charlie went to visit the local family physician, Dr. Helsabeck, at his office in Germanton. The examination revealed that the injury was not as bad as it had first appeared. Several blood vessels had been severed in his scalp which caused profuse bleeding. Both of his eyes were black for a week or two. Later, after the murders, Dr. Helsabeck would examine Charlie's brain and state that this injury was probably not severe enough to have contributed to Charlie's actions.
There remain some persons who say Charlie Lawson was no different after the injury than he was before. There are also those who indicate that he did seem different. There had
been times, it is said, that Charlie would abruptly walk away from a conversation in mid-sentence—as if he had suddenly lost track of what was happening.
This injury was not the only health problem troubling Charlie. In the months before the murders, he had seen the doctor complaining of severe headaches and persistent insomnia. Fannie told friends of times that Charlie would jump wildly up from bed in the middle of the night and insist on checking his guns. Many nights he would ramble aimlessly around the house and barns, causing his wife to become fearful of him.
Charlie also had a reddish growth of some sort on his chest. It resembled a burn and was about the size of two hands laid side by side. On many occasions he had shown this mark to friends and commented on the pain associated with it. Certainly Charlie Lawson had more than one problem, and perhaps all of them played a part in his final actions. Charlie was quoted as having said to friends in a casual conversation a few months before the murders, "I wouldn't mind dying if I could only take my family with me..."
And what of Charlie's family—his wife and seven children? Less is remembered about the smaller children than Fannie, Arthur, and Marie. Carrie and Mae Bell are remembered as being better than average students at Germanton Elementary School (see page 122). Twelve year old Carrie was a very neat and orderly child with straight, brown hair and blue eyes. Mae Bell, at seven years of age, was already aware of her striking good looks and loved to dress up and show off. She was quite feminine and described as being almost "prissy."
Four year old James and little blond haired Raymond were extremely fun loving and liked nothing better than to draw any unsuspecting person they could find into a bout of picking and cutting up.
Seventeen year old Marie was strong, large-boned, dark, and womanly. She had caught the eye of many of the young
■18-
men in the area. She possessed sultry good looks that were not unlike the actresses that were popular in the movies of that era. (Family Portrait on page 111.)
At nineteen years old, Arthur Lawson had almost reached full manhood. He is remembered as being tall, healthy, and strong. The most memorable thing about this extremely handsome young man was his incredibly pale grey-blue eyes. Those eyes, they say, you would have had to experience in person to believe.
There is little at all to know of Mary Lou
Once the basement had been created, it was necessary to dig a drainage ditch so that excess water could escape from beneath the building. Charlie had paid little attention to the fence that ran a foot or two behind the packhouse. As he rythmically swung his maddock into the ground to break up chunks of earth, the very tip of it caught on the wire. The maddock recoiled and struck Charlie's forehead. The injury was nasty looking and Charlie went to visit the local family physician, Dr. Helsabeck, at his office in Germanton. The examination revealed that the injury was not as bad as it had first appeared. Several blood vessels had been severed in his scalp which caused profuse bleeding. Both of his eyes were black for a week or two. Later, after the murders, Dr. Helsabeck would examine Charlie's brain and state that this injury was probably not severe enough to have contributed to Charlie's actions.
There remain some persons who say Charlie Lawson was no different after the injury than he was before. There are also those who indicate that he did seem different. There had
been times, it is said, that Charlie would abruptly walk away from a conversation in mid-sentence—as if he had suddenly lost track of what was happening.
This injury was not the only health problem troubling Charlie. In the months before the murders, he had seen the doctor complaining of severe headaches and persistent insomnia. Fannie told friends of times that Charlie would jump wildly up from bed in the middle of the night and insist on checking his guns. Many nights he would ramble aimlessly around the house and barns, causing his wife to become fearful of him.
Charlie also had a reddish growth of some sort on his chest. It resembled a burn and was about the size of two hands laid side by side. On many occasions he had shown this mark to friends and commented on the pain associated with it. Certainly Charlie Lawson had more than one problem, and perhaps all of them played a part in his final actions. Charlie was quoted as having said to friends in a casual conversation a few months before the murders, "I wouldn't mind dying if I could only take my family with me..."
And what of Charlie's family—his wife and seven children? Less is remembered about the smaller children than Fannie, Arthur, and Marie. Carrie and Mae Bell are remembered as being better than average students at Germanton Elementary School (see page 122). Twelve year old Carrie was a very neat and orderly child with straight, brown hair and blue eyes. Mae Bell, at seven years of age, was already aware of her striking good looks and loved to dress up and show off. She was quite feminine and described as being almost "prissy."
Four year old James and little blond haired Raymond were extremely fun loving and liked nothing better than to draw any unsuspecting person they could find into a bout of picking and cutting up.
Seventeen year old Marie was strong, large-boned, dark, and womanly. She had caught the eye of many of the young
■18-
men in the area. She possessed sultry good looks that were not unlike the actresses that were popular in the movies of that era. (Family Portrait on page 111.)
At nineteen years old, Arthur Lawson had almost reached full manhood. He is remembered as being tall, healthy, and strong. The most memorable thing about this extremely handsome young man was his incredibly pale grey-blue eyes. Those eyes, they say, you would have had to experience in person to believe.
There is little at all to know of Mary Lou
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