A couple of weeks back, my daughter Randie and I recently made a return visit to Madison NC, a quaint town about 15 miles north of Greensboro.
We popped back into Bob's Restaurant for lunch.
And we made another visit to the Eclectic Calico, mostly to see their cat in residence, Bella.
This time, Randie and I ventured across the street to visit Madison Dry Goods & Country Store and this is where things get a little strange.
He and his wife Kathy were quite friendly and very eager to talk about their store.
Including the story of... the murders.
Among the businesses that have occupied space in this building was the T. D. Knight Funeral Parlor and on Christmas Day in 1929, T. D. Knight was called upon to attend to a most gruesome task.
Kathy Miller is a wonderfully sweet person so her tale of that tragic event was a bit incongruous with her pleasant personality and this warm, inviting country store.
Charlie Lawson was a Stokes County farmer. On the afternoon of Christmas Day in 1929, the 43 year old man murdered his wife and six of his seven children at their home in Germanton, a small community just down the road from Madison.
The dead were more than anyone in Germanton could cope with so the bodies were brought to the T. D. Knight Funeral Parlor to be prepared for burial.
Kathy Miller helpfully directed us to the museum up stairs for more information about this terrible crime.
Randie, of course, was very curious to get more information about this terrible crime and bounded up the stairs to the museum. I trudged along behind her.
The museum is a small exhibit containing a reproduction of the embalming room used by T. D. Knight Funeral Parlor. Here is a photo of it that I found online taken by Richard Miller.
And here is a photo of the Lawson family, taken only a few days before in their Sunday finest, the same clothes they were buried in.
The exhibit includes newspaper clippings, vintage photos, a poem about the tragedy and the lyrics to a song that folk music legend Doc Watson wrote about the event.
It is a solemn shrine to a tragedy that remains shrouded in mystery. What prompted Charlie Lawson to murder his family in such a vicious and violent manner? It is a subject of much speculation but after 91 years, there are only questions and the ghosts of Lawson and his murdered family are not offering up any answers.
This is some seriously heavy history that makes a person think. Taking a deep breath, Randie and I made our way back down stairs and bought some stuff.
My wife Andrea is getting some home made honey for Christmas. Shh! Don't tell her.
Remember to be good to one another.
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