1929 — Dec 25, C.D. Lawson kills wife, six children, suicide, Walnut Cove, NC     —       8

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-6-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/-

—  8  Duwe, Grant.  Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007, p. 51.

—  8  Jefferson City Post Tribune, MO. “Farmer Kills Wife and Six Children.” 12-26-1929, p. 2.

—  8  NYT. “Crazy Farmer Kills Wife, 6 Children…Goes to End His Own Life.” 12-26-1929.

—  8  Smith, Trudy J. The Meaning of Our Tears: The Lawson Family Murders of…1929. 2006.

Narrative Information

Jefferson City Post Tribune: “Walnut Cove, N.C., Dec. 26 – (AP) – A farmer’s wife and six children lay dead today, all the victims of a husband and father who had been kind to them until Christmas Day, when he became insane. After slaying them he shot himself to death with a shotgun. 

“The dead:  Charles D. Larson, 43, well to do farmer; his wife, 38, and six of their children: Marie, 17; Carrie, 14; Mirabelle, 10; James 7; Raymond, 5; and Mary Lou, 5 months.

“The bodies of the mother and children, shot or beaten to death, were found yesterday afternoon in the bloodstained Lawson home and a tobacco barn on he place.  The father had carefully laid them out for burial.  Lying in a patch of woods a half mile away was the body of the farmer.  A shotgun was nearby and in his pocket was a crumpled piece of paper upon which was sprawled: ‘Blame nobody but I.’” (Jefferson City Post Tribune, MO. “Farmer Kills Wife and Six Children.” 12-26-1929, p. 2.)

Sources

Duwe, Grant. Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007.

Jefferson City Post-Tribune, MO.  “Farmer Kills Wife and Six Children.” 12-26-1929, p. 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/jefferson-city-post-tribune/1929-12-26/page-2?tag=walnut+cove&rtserp=tags/?ndt=ex&py=1929&pm=12&pep=walnut-cove&pse=10

New York Times. “Crazy Farmer Kills Wife, 6 Children; Lays Them Out for Burial and Then Goes to End His Own Life. Only Absent Son Escapes. Insanity of North Carolinian Ascribed to a Blow on the Head a Year Ago.” 12-26-1929. Accessed at: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60A11FD3F5F177A93C4AB1789D95F4D8285F9

Smith, Trudy J. The Meaning of Our Tears: White Christmas-Bloody Christmas. The Story Behind Writing The Lawson Family Murders. Accessed 2-6-2025 at: https://trudyjsmith.com/about-the-books