The Lawson family looked like any other family in rural North Carolina, USA in 1929. They were hard-working farmers who worked in the dark. Most families had many children and many mouths to feed.
Therefore, no one expected the horror that happened on Christmas Day in 1929.
Lawson family home.
Childbirth and poverty
Charles and Fannie Manning were married in 1911 and 18 years later had seven living children, but one had died of diphtheria aged six.
Charles worked as a farm laborer in a tobacco field while Fannie looked after the children, and through research and saving they had finally managed to save for their own home in 1927. There was hardly any fish, as you can see in the picture, but the family had ins and outs, which was more than could be said for many during the crisis years.
But with strength nonetheless.
It is therefore quite surprising that the father of the family, Charles, decides, a few days before Christmas 1929, to demand that a family photo be taken.
The unexpected photoshoot
Photographic technology was still relatively new at this time and was generally only available to chemists to have their photographs taken.
It was therefore unheard of for an ordinary farm worker to afford such a luxury, since the cost of the photoshoot is on par with the cost of food for several weeks.
His wife Fannie thought it was a bad use of money, but relented and drove to the nearby town, in her best polish, for the photoshoot.
Namely, Charles had also demanded that a new garment and shoes be purchased for each child, as well as a new dress for Fannie, expenses that no poor farmhand with seven children would have thought of.
But Charles also made that claim.
They were Charles, 43, Fannie, 37, and their children Arthur, 19, Marie, 16, Carrie, 12, Maybell, 7, James, 4, Raymond, 2, and Mary Lou, 4 months. The photo shoot went well.
Why Charles insisted on the photo being taken is still the subject of much thought today, almost 100 years later.
The family from left to right: Arthur, Marie, Charles, Fannie holding Mary Lou, James, Maybell, Raymond and Carrie.
Murders
On Christmas Day, December 25, just days after the photo was taken, Charles was waiting for his daughters, Carrie and Maybell, by the barn right next to the building.
He knew they were going to visit their aunt for Christmas and they would pass the barn. As they approached, Charles shot his two daughters with a shotgun, but also struck them in the head with the butt of the pistol to make sure they were dead.
He then proceeded to the apartment building where his wife Fannie was standing on the porch and shot her dead.
Marie, who was inside with her little brothers, James and Raymond, taking a freshly baked cake out of the oven, quickly realizes what is happening and tries desperately to find a hiding place for them.
She managed to hide her brothers and was looking for shelter herself when her father approached her and shot her.
He quickly found the two little boys and shot them too.
He ended his killing spree by beating his 4-month-old daughter, Mary Lou, to death.
Charles then went to a nearby forest and appears to have been circling there until dusk.
He then shot himself in the head.
Some say Charles Lawson had Stephen King in mind when writing The Shining.
scary approach
The only family member to survive the murders was the couple’s eldest child, Arthur, whose father had sent him on an unnecessary errand the night before and wasn’t due home until late on Christmas Day .
The bodies of the family members were found just before Charles committed suicide. They were found by relatives who came to wish the family a Merry Christmas.
The house still smelled of baking, but the family members were dead and they were all lying in the same position; lying on your back, arms crossed over your chest and a stone under your head, like a pillow. They were all lying side by side.
A policeman, who had been called, ran into the woods when the sound of gunfire was heard and found Charles Lawson dead, and beside him a letter addressed to his parents.
The murders have attracted enormous attention.
The Big Questions
What had Charles Lawson done? He was known as a loving family man who never lost his temper, let alone was known to be violent. How could this adorable man have become such a monster? Moreover, the family was no worse off financially than their relatives, friends and neighbors in general.
These are questions that are still being debated, almost a century later.
In general, crime buffs are divided into two factions regarding the reason for the murders:
-Charles had been hit in the head and suffered brain damage. The agricultural work of those years was dangerous, there was no labor inspection and it is likely that Charles lost his sight of reality after an accident he had while digging a ditch a few months later. early. But he downplayed the blow and said he barely felt it.
That’s the theory his family has stuck to over the years, but an autopsy later revealed no evidence of brain damage.
-Charles had given birth to his eldest daughter, Marie, when she was 16 and shot the whole family to hide the secret forever. Charles’s niece, Stella, will have confirmed having heard such rumors and that Fannie threatened her husband to reveal his actions. Also, Marie will have told her best friend, Ella May, that she was pregnant by her father.
Was Charles hiding the terrifying witchcraft spell? Maybe guilt had robbed him of his wits?
The house is still a museum today.
Lap after lap after lap
Footprints in the woods showed Charles had been circling for hours before shooting himself. What was he thinking as he walked?
The letter to his parents was not much help. There were only two half-finished sentences: Trouble Can Cause….. and It’s Nobody’s Fault, But….
But why murder the whole family instead of committing suicide if guilt was to blame?
And why did Charles deliberately send his eldest son, Arthur, away from home? Why did he spare her? Maybe because his son was big and strong and could have overpowered him? Or did Charles want to keep Arthur alive so the Lawson name wouldn’t die?
From the Lawson house.
Arthur died young in a car accident, aged just 32, but left behind four children. Her life was plagued with guilt from having lived while her mother and siblings had been killed.
Charles’ siblings saw a board game after the murders and turned the house into a still-functioning museum.
The photograph?
But the biggest question is and will be photography.
It seems that Charles was keen to keep the family memory alive through a photograph and also spent a lot of money on clothes for the photo shoot.
Why, we’ll never know, but that doesn’t change the fact that the case is still generating a lot of interest and will no doubt remain so for years to come.
