STOKES COUNTY, N.C. -- The 1929 Lawson family murder mystery in Stokes County is still intriguing 86 years later.
One of the few pieces of the Christmas Day massacre that lives on is the family portrait. It was taken two weeks before Charlie Lawson killed his wife and six of their children and has floated around ever since.
Most all of them are copies of an original.
"This picture was used in so many things, for example, on the tape, on the back of the book,” said Randy Howell, of Stokes County. “Every picture you see of this family came from this original."
Howell has an original photo made directly from the negative. A couple were made, but very few are left. Howell received the portrait from a friend who received it from the Lawson family.
He had a photo expert examine it for its authenticity. "The expert told me and verified that it was an original fiber-based print, it was not a copy of anything, it was original," said Howell.
Another piece of this mystery that lives on is the murder ballad based on the massacre. It’s hard to believe a song would be written about a mass murder but it wasn't unusual back then.
Neither was charging people admission to see the crime scene. That happened in this case, too.
The author of 'The Meaning of our Tears,' based on the massacre, said Charlie's brother charged visitors to walk around the house after their deaths.
A local woman in her 90's told us she clearly remembers, as a 6-year-old, walking around the inside of the house with her parents. People believe the uncle did it to pay off the farmland the house was on.