White Christmas, bloody Christmas (4 page)

Soon, the Lawson clan was ready to start for the big city. Arthur hoisted himself into the back of the truck and helped lift Marie, Carrie, and Mae Bell up as well. Little James decided he was as big as the other brothers and sisters and insisted that he ride in the back of the truck, too.

Remembering the other precious little boy she had lost who so reminded her of James, Fannie told him,"No. I don't think that would be a good idea since you've had a cold this week, James. You can sit up front with us and stay wrapped up."

Earlier, Arthur and Charlie had made a make-shift bench of pieces of rough wood and a long board and placed it in the back of the truck so that they would have a place to sit during the trip. They placed it up against the front section of the truck to afford as much protection as possible from the wind.

Charlie helped Fannie up into the cab of the truck behind James and handed her the baby and the paper sacks she had prepared which were filled with food, diapers and other-necessities. He picked up little Raymond and carried him on his hip to the driver's side of the truck and deposited him on the front seat beside of his brother, James. Charlie went around to the front of the old truck and spun the crank until the engine sputtered and began to run. He climbed in and the family was on its way to the city.

Fannie was puzzledby Charlie's sudden idea of buying clothing and making family portraits but said nothing about it. Charlie's temper had been becoming more violent in the past week or so, and she was beginning to become

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fearful that Charlie might actually carry out some of his threats. Perhaps, she thought, she shouldn't have confided in anyone about her fears, but she simply had to talk to someone.

The truck slowed down a bit as they came into the business district of Winston-Salem. The younger children were always amazed by the tallness of the buildings and the fact that the main streets in town were paved. This was something that was unique to the larger cities. Pavement was still not seen in the smaller towns of the area. The children often accompanied their parents on trips into Walnut Cove and Germanton, but this was a real treat. Arthur was interested in the abundance of new automobiles he could see parked along the streets. The girls pointed with delight at the beautiful fashion displays in the store windows.

Charlie parked the truck along the street on the same block as one of the larger clothing stores in town. He motioned for the family to get out of the truck. Arthur jumped down and helped lower his sisters one by one to the sidewalk.

"Are we near the store yet, Papa?" inquired Carrie. Mae Bell was already studying the store window in front of the truck.

"It's right up the street a few doors," Charlie said. "Let's get goin'."

"How much are we to spend on each outfit, Charlie?" asked Fannie. "This'll probably be real expensive-buyinga store-bought outfit for everyone all at once."

"Don't matter. You all buy which ever is your most favorite," answered Charlie. "I got the money to pay for it. I want the whole family to have a good set of store-bought clothes. Besides, it's all part of the Christmas surprise I told you about..."

"Okay, Charlie," said Fannie. "Whatever you say."

In an hour or two, the family was outfitted in brand new clothes and was ready for the next task on Charlie's list for

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the day. Charlie had instructed the family to wear the clothing they had chosen out of the store and the clothes they had worn in were boxed and bagged. Charlie pulled a fat roll of bills from his pocket and paid the clerk for the purchase. The next stop for the Lawson's was the photography studio.

After the portrait was made, the family changed back into their old clothes for the ride back home. The excursion took the better part of the day and it was late afternoon when the family arrived back at home. Tired from the long day, Fannie built the fire back up in her wood stove and wearily sliced some country ham into her old cast iron skillet while Marie rolled out some biscuit dough and Carrie peeled some potatoes. It had been a long, hard day, and the Lawson family was hungry. By the time Charlie and Arthur had returned from their outside chores, Fannie and Marie were placing a hot meal on the long kitchen table.

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before had disappeared and it had begun to snow. And what an unusual snowfall it was. Huge flakes, some of which were almost as large as the width of a man's hand, were softly falling.

This phenomenally beautiful snowfall continued through the night, creating a frosty, wintery wonderland by the arrival of Saturday morning's light. Christmas of 1929 would be a white one and very cold. This innocent, six-inch mantle of winter would lay undisturbed and expectant-waiting patiently and silently for North Carolina's saddest Christmas.

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That particular morning, he noticed Charlie Lawson as he and his mule made their way toward the bank. He took an interest in watching Charlie's efforts to get the old mule up the steep embankment to the hitching post beside of the bank building. It was quite a scene. The mulesimply did not want to cooperate with Charlie! Charlie pointed the old mule toward the incline and the mule stubbornly refused to climb it time after time. The more Charlie smacked the old mule's behind, the more the mule's tail would swish around and aroundin circles. Mr.Tuttlesmiled to himself as he watched Charlie and the mule continue their little argument. Just two days later, however, Mr. Tuttle would forget how easily he had smiled at the thought of Charlie Lawson.

Later, after Charlie's body was found, sixty dollars in cash was found in his wallet—quite a large sum to carry in cash in the year 1929...

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fire to dress.

"It's bitter again this morning ain't it Joe?" she asked, layering on her warmest clothing.

"Yea," he replied. "I reckon this is 'bout as cold a spell as we've had for a long while."

His wife hurried down the steps in front of him to begin preparing a special Christmas morning breakfast for her guests.

While the saged older wife and the brand new wife busied themselves in the kitchen, Leonard and Grandfather Joe stepped out into the bitter December air to do the early morning chores.

In the kitchen, the two women chatted happily about E ffie's new adventure as a wife and exchanged some favorite housewife hints. Soon, they were ready to serve a delicious, hearty breakfast for their two 'men-folk.'

The men closed the back door solidly against the cold outside air. Christmas morning smelled mighty good! Effie and Grandma had prepared a traditional country Christmas breakfast of sugar-cured country ham, sausages, over-easy eggs, and steaming, hot butter-milk biscuits. They had a choice of a creamy milk gravy or 'red-eye' gravy. And that hot cup of coffee was especially delicious on a morning as cold as this.

The men breathed in the heavy aroma of the food as the group gathered around the kitchen table. They paused to give thanks for this good meal, and then pulled out their chairs and took a place at the table. Everyone filled their plates and were preparing to eat when, quite without warning, a big tear ran down the wrinkled old face of Grandpa Joe.

"What's wrong, Grandpa?" questioned Leonard, looking curiously into his grandfather's gentle, weathered old face. "What's wrong?" Tears were streaming down the old man's face now. He was beginning to sob, almost uncontrollably.

"I-I-don't know—what's wrong," sobbed Grandpa Joe. "I just don't know... Something feels bad wrong. But—I don't

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know what..."

Joe sat at the table throughout the meal crying so pitifully that he could not eat his own breakfast. As minutes turned to hours, they became increasingly concerned about him. They repeatedly tried to pry from him the reason for his tears, but his reply was always the same. He simply had been overcome with a sickening sadness. There was no way to explain it. As the morning continued, Joe cried and cried. "He sounds so pitiful, Effie," observed Leonard to this wife. "He's crying just like a little baby would."

Turning to Leonard's grandmother, Effie asked, "Has he ever been like this before?"

"I've never seen him this way in my whole life! I don't know what could be wrong with him," she replied, shaking her head.

There in front of the warm Christmas Day fire, Grandpa Joe continued to cry. They began to wonder if he would ever be able to stop...

At around two-thirty p.m. that afternoon, the news came that Charlie Lawson's entire family had been found shot and bludgeoned to death in their home. Strangely, as soon as Grandpa Joe had heard what had happened, he was able to stop crying.

Wiping a last tear from his swollen eyes, he said to Leonard, "We need to go over there and see if we can help."

"Okay, Grandpa," agreed Leonard. "We'll ride over there and see what's happened. I'll go pull the car around. Effie, you and Grandma stay here. I don't want you going over there. It could be dangerous. And, lock the doors when we leave-just in case."

The Joe Lawson home was located near the town of Mayodan which is about thirteen miles from Walnut Cove. Under good conditions, it wouldn't have taken long to make the trip to Charlie Lawson's home, but with the dirt roads frozen and packed, the travel that day was difficult. They arrived at the murder scene, however, without incident.

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Once there, they joined the already large crowd of people who had gathered at the scene. They could see many men and boys cautiously stalking the surrounding fields and pastures near the house with-guns poised and ready in nervous hands.

"They're saying the bodies of Fannie and all the children have been found but, has anyone found out where Charlie is yet?" asked Leonard of a man standing nearby.

"No, not yet," the man answered. "Some people are saying Charlie must of been the one who killed 'em and he run off or something. Some people think we're gonna find Charlie murdered around here somewhere, too. To tell you the truth, I don't know what to think."

"Yea, I know what you mean. This is about the worst thing I've ever seen or heard tell of. I just can't believe something like this has happened."

Leonard looked over at his grandfather. Grandpa Joe said nothing. He just stood there in the deep snow, his collar turned up against the icy air. There was nothing to say. He simply looked out over the horrible scene through his swollen, red-rimmed eyes. It was all so sad—so very, very sad...

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before and added some kindling wood. In a short while, the kitchen grew warm,and Fannie began to plan the morning meal.

In the front part of the house, Charlie Lawson stirred from their bed, pulled on his clothes and checked the fireplace fire. As his wife put on the coffee to brew, he went outside and gathered up an armful of wood to rebuild the fire.

As the house grew warmer and the inviting aroma of country ham and eggs wafted upstairs, the Lawson children began to stir. The Lawsons had an overnight guest for Christmas that year—Stella Lawson's older brother, Sanders, had spent Christmas Eve with the family and had decided to stay overnight.

There were no Christmas decorations in the house that morning—no Christmas tree or gifts. This Christmas morning was different than those in years past. This morning, the family awaited Charlie's Christmas "surprise" that he had been promising for several weeks.

Although this was a much less than cheery Christmas morning, Marie was optimistic. Tonight, Charlie Wade Hampton was coming in his car to pick her and Arthur up and drive them to the Christmas program at Palmyra Church. Charlie Wade had a way of making her feel safe and happy, even when things were going very wrong.

She hummed her favorite Christmas songs to herself as she stirred up the ingredients for a special Christmas raisin cake. The kids deserved it, she thought to herself. This certainly had not been a very happy holiday season for them. While the cake baked, she decided what she would wear that evening and brought out her best Sunday coat and draped it over the chair beside the chest of drawers. The smaller children chased each other around the house and amused themselves much as they did on any other day.

After Marie had iced the cake, she poured some water into a shallow pan, brought it out and sat it on the chest of drawers in front of the mirror and prepared to wave her hair. Outside,

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she could hear the loud reports of guns being fired near the house.

By around 10:00 o'clock that morning, several of the neighborhood men and older boys had gathered at the Lawson house,and a friendly bout of target practice was challenged. For a couple of hours, the group threw up tin cans and tested their marksmanship skills. Charlie Lawson participated with the group and appeared perfectly normal.

Before long, they grew low on ammunition and bored with the game. It was getting close to lunch time,and the group gradually dispersed and went to their own homes.

The only ones left were Charlie, Arthur, Sanders and a young man who lived close by. Charlie mentioned that they would need more ammunition in order to go rabbit hunting that afternoon. He suggested they walk to Germanton to buy more shells. Charlie walked to the house and the boys started out for Germanton by way of the railroad tracks. Before they had gone very far, their friend stopped them and said, "You all go on without me. I think I'll just hang around here 'til you get back..." The young man walked back to the Lawson home and went inside—even though he sensed how much Charlie Lawson disliked him...

Author's Note:

It is belie red that Marie Lawson and Charlie Wade Hampton had fallen in lore sometime that autumn and had planned to be married. It would seem that he was a respectable young man of very noble intentions.

We also are aware of the identity of the young neighborhood boy who was in the house. However, due to his advanced age and poor health, we hare decided to honor h is obvious desire of more than sixty years to remain anonymous.

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"Okay, Moma," agreed Carrie as she and Mae Bell turned to get their heavy coats.

Charlie walked in the front door and pushed it closed. M arie was standing in front of the mirror, only a foot or two to his right, curling her hair.