Charles Davis "Charlie" Lawson was a tobacco farmer from Stokes County, North Carolina. He was born in 1886 and married Fannie Manring in 1911. The couple had eight children, but their third child, William, died in 1920. In 1918, the Lawson family moved to Germanton, North Carolina, where they worked as tenant farmers. By 1927, Charlie had saved enough money to buy his own farm on Brook Cove Road.

In early December 1929, Charlie took his family into town to buy new clothes and have a professional family portrait taken, which was unusual for a working-class family. This later raised suspicions that he had been planning something.

On December 25, 1929, Christmas Day, Charlie Lawson murdered his wife and six of their seven children at their home in Germanton, North Carolina. The victims were:

• Fannie Lawson, 37 (wife)
• Marie Lawson, 17
• Carrie Lawson, 12
• Maybell Lawson, 7
• James Lawson, 4
• Raymond Lawson, 2
• Mary Lou Lawson, 4 months

Charlie’s oldest son, 19-year-old Arthur Lawson, survived because his father had sent him on an errand before the killings.

Charlie first waited near his tobacco barn for his daughters, Carrie and Maybell, as they were walking to visit family. He shot them with a 12-gauge shotgun, then bludgeoned them to make sure they were dead. He placed their bodies inside the barn.

Next, Charlie returned to the house and shot his wife, Fannie, who was on the porch. Inside, their daughter Marie screamed while the younger children tried to hide. He shot Marie first, then found and killed James and Raymond. Finally, he killed his baby daughter, Mary Lou, likely by bludgeoning.

After the murders, Charlie went into the woods near his home. Hours later, around dusk, he shot himself. His body was found with letters addressed to his parents.

The reason for the murders remains unclear. Some believed Charlie suffered from a head injury that affected his behavior, but an autopsy found no major brain damage. Others suspected an incestuous relationship between Charlie and his daughter Marie, as family members and neighbors later claimed that Marie had been pregnant and Charlie was the father.

After the murders, Charlie’s brother, Marion Lawson, opened the family home as a tourist attraction. Visitors paid to see the crime scene, including a cake that Marie had baked on Christmas Day, which was placed in a glass case after people started taking pieces of it.

The case became widely known and inspired several folk songs, including The Murder of the Lawson Family, recorded in 1930. The story is still remembered as one of North Carolina’s most disturbing family murders.