Post by Brian on Jun 5, 2009 8:11:35 GMT -5
12/31/06 at 09:47
tarheel
Hello everyone.
This is my first post here ,but probably not my only post.
My connection to this tragedy goes back to my childhood days as with many others here.
My mom would sing the song to us as a laluby at night.
I don't think i ever really paid that much attention to the words then because it was the melody that was a soothing
tone that would put me to sleep in just a few minutes.
As years went along,i really became enthralled to the lyrics of that melody.
I could actually vision how all might have taken place in my young childhood mind!
Being musically inclined all my life and as a young teenager i sang with a group of guys as a gospel quartet.
I was brought up in a southern baptist church so my spiritual beliefs go really deep!
Remembering one Sunday afternoon as we were heading towards a church in Stokes county to sing that night, the
leader of our quartet(i do not remember his name right now) pulled his car in which we were all riding.over to the side
of the road.
He motion for us to follow him towards a small cemetary just off the highway there!
Then he began to tell us about the Lawson story and that this was where they were all buried in the "crowded
grave", as i remembered the song lyrics!
At that time.there were no trees along the roadside and the graves were visible from the road, if you knew where to
look for them.(this was in the early 1950's)
My heart beat was more than normal as i approached the large grave site!
I could not belive i was actually standing on the spot where they were all buried!
My eyes swelled as I read with interest the names and the inscription on Charlie's gravel
To be honest.i was actually stunned and couldn't wait to get home that night to tell my mom that i had actually visited
the grave site!
I had no idea where it was located at that time.
All i knew was that we were in Stokes county and were a few miles away from the church where we sang gospel
songs that night to the church members there!
My memories of that moment in my teen age years remained with me for a long time.
Years later i would become a tv news photographer and in 1991,i produced a story on the Lawson Tragedy, for tv
news. When the story ran on the air that Christmas Eve ,the station's switchboard was jammed due to the
telephone calls that started pouring in!
Many of the calls,apparentfy from relatives,etc., were not very approving and many requsted that we not show it
again and to "let that family rest in peace!"
But i did produce a follow up story with the help of Trudy Smith and Bruce Jones!
Their book,"White Christmas,Bloody Christmas,had just been released and they had seen my story about the lawson
family when it ran on tv news!
That book is out of print now and my autographed copy is a treasure i will cherish forever!
Trudy graciously helped me do the follow up to
tell the story about how a relative had come forth to tell what really happened to cause Charlie Lawson to do his
terrible deed on that fateful Christmas Day,1929...
Some of the footage from my stories were used in the Documentary,produced by Matt Hodges and Eric Calhoun!
I was also asked to be a part of the video too and i was very honored to do so!
My first big movie part!
All kidding aside,it was really an honor and very fitting to watch all of this come together and be a part of helping
Matt and ERIC with such things as performing the "ballad of chariie lawson", playing a part in the documentarty and
going with Matt to meet Tanya Smith,with the Surry Arts Council, in order to set up the DEBUT showing in Mt-Airy.N.C.
I was supposed to perform the ballad tune at the Debut, but we had a death in our family and i was not able to
attend the debut showing!
But I was honored to perform the song at the showing in Germanton, December 16th,at the elementary school!
I wish i could go into detail about how things came together for me when i produced that story in 1991,because I did
not know anyone connected to the story!
Time and space here will not permit it, but maybe someday i'll set down and put it all together and then apply it here
for all to read!
By the way,my wife Peg, and i have lived in Rural Hall for over 20 years now...until this past July,2006!
We now live in Germanton,just a stones throw from the Brook Cove Cemetary,the resting place of Charlie Lawson and
his Family!
Chuck Hemrick
aka.tarheel_
12/31/06 at 10:08 AM
Maria
What a great post Chuck, and a great story. It's strange, but like you I learned of this story 40 years ago via a woman singing the song about it. I too sang it to my son as a lullaby. So that's how he first learned about it. Now we three are here together. It's really eerie how this particular story of murder stays with you no matter how young you were when you first heard about it or how long ago you were introduced to it. It never leaves you. Never goes away.
That's how strong an impact it has on people.
Maria
12/31/06 at 12:46 PM
jackhammer
Indeed a great story, Tarheel. It seems that there's been a little piece of the Lawson story with you throughout your
life.
When you do have more free time, I'm sure that many of us would be interested in reading more about how your
1991 production came to be.
Also, looking forward to your photos of the barn. I'm amazed that it's still standing after almost 80 years since the
murders.
jackhammer
01/15/07 at 10:45 PM
tarheel
for those interested,! have a copy of the original story of "the lawson tragedy" that aired in wghp-tv in december
1991.
it's a copy of the story recorded off the air and it is followed by the follow-up story that i produced with the help of
Trudy Smith and her Bruce Jones'
maybe Matt or Eric can make copies of it for anyone interested in viewing it.
this off air copy was missing for over two years and it just "turned up" again in recent weeks...
I am thrilled to no end ,to say the least!
but i am excited about having it in my possesion again and really want folks who may be interested in it,to be able to
view it!
I must remind you again that it was produced for a tv news show and i was allowed over 2 minutes for each story'
i know that doesnt sound like a whole lot of time.but the adverge tv news stories only run about a minute to a minute
and a half!
somehow or another i was able to edit my story to over 3 minutes (eternity in the tv news world) but the response
that came in after it aired was proof enough that we had made the right decision!
warm regards,
Tarheel
aka,chuck hemnck_
01/16/07 at 02:04 PM
jackhammer
I'd definitely be interested, Tarheel. Once you figure out how best to get copies, I'll send you some money for a hard copy and shipping. I'll need you to PM me your address, unless you have a PayPal account.
Thanks.
jackhammer
tarheel
Hello everyone.
This is my first post here ,but probably not my only post.
My connection to this tragedy goes back to my childhood days as with many others here.
My mom would sing the song to us as a laluby at night.
I don't think i ever really paid that much attention to the words then because it was the melody that was a soothing
tone that would put me to sleep in just a few minutes.
As years went along,i really became enthralled to the lyrics of that melody.
I could actually vision how all might have taken place in my young childhood mind!
Being musically inclined all my life and as a young teenager i sang with a group of guys as a gospel quartet.
I was brought up in a southern baptist church so my spiritual beliefs go really deep!
Remembering one Sunday afternoon as we were heading towards a church in Stokes county to sing that night, the
leader of our quartet(i do not remember his name right now) pulled his car in which we were all riding.over to the side
of the road.
He motion for us to follow him towards a small cemetary just off the highway there!
Then he began to tell us about the Lawson story and that this was where they were all buried in the "crowded
grave", as i remembered the song lyrics!
At that time.there were no trees along the roadside and the graves were visible from the road, if you knew where to
look for them.(this was in the early 1950's)
My heart beat was more than normal as i approached the large grave site!
I could not belive i was actually standing on the spot where they were all buried!
My eyes swelled as I read with interest the names and the inscription on Charlie's gravel
To be honest.i was actually stunned and couldn't wait to get home that night to tell my mom that i had actually visited
the grave site!
I had no idea where it was located at that time.
All i knew was that we were in Stokes county and were a few miles away from the church where we sang gospel
songs that night to the church members there!
My memories of that moment in my teen age years remained with me for a long time.
Years later i would become a tv news photographer and in 1991,i produced a story on the Lawson Tragedy, for tv
news. When the story ran on the air that Christmas Eve ,the station's switchboard was jammed due to the
telephone calls that started pouring in!
Many of the calls,apparentfy from relatives,etc., were not very approving and many requsted that we not show it
again and to "let that family rest in peace!"
But i did produce a follow up story with the help of Trudy Smith and Bruce Jones!
Their book,"White Christmas,Bloody Christmas,had just been released and they had seen my story about the lawson
family when it ran on tv news!
That book is out of print now and my autographed copy is a treasure i will cherish forever!
Trudy graciously helped me do the follow up to
tell the story about how a relative had come forth to tell what really happened to cause Charlie Lawson to do his
terrible deed on that fateful Christmas Day,1929...
Some of the footage from my stories were used in the Documentary,produced by Matt Hodges and Eric Calhoun!
I was also asked to be a part of the video too and i was very honored to do so!
My first big movie part!
All kidding aside,it was really an honor and very fitting to watch all of this come together and be a part of helping
Matt and ERIC with such things as performing the "ballad of chariie lawson", playing a part in the documentarty and
going with Matt to meet Tanya Smith,with the Surry Arts Council, in order to set up the DEBUT showing in Mt-Airy.N.C.
I was supposed to perform the ballad tune at the Debut, but we had a death in our family and i was not able to
attend the debut showing!
But I was honored to perform the song at the showing in Germanton, December 16th,at the elementary school!
I wish i could go into detail about how things came together for me when i produced that story in 1991,because I did
not know anyone connected to the story!
Time and space here will not permit it, but maybe someday i'll set down and put it all together and then apply it here
for all to read!
By the way,my wife Peg, and i have lived in Rural Hall for over 20 years now...until this past July,2006!
We now live in Germanton,just a stones throw from the Brook Cove Cemetary,the resting place of Charlie Lawson and
his Family!
Chuck Hemrick
aka.tarheel_
12/31/06 at 10:08 AM
Maria
What a great post Chuck, and a great story. It's strange, but like you I learned of this story 40 years ago via a woman singing the song about it. I too sang it to my son as a lullaby. So that's how he first learned about it. Now we three are here together. It's really eerie how this particular story of murder stays with you no matter how young you were when you first heard about it or how long ago you were introduced to it. It never leaves you. Never goes away.
That's how strong an impact it has on people.
Maria
12/31/06 at 12:46 PM
jackhammer
Indeed a great story, Tarheel. It seems that there's been a little piece of the Lawson story with you throughout your
life.
When you do have more free time, I'm sure that many of us would be interested in reading more about how your
1991 production came to be.
Also, looking forward to your photos of the barn. I'm amazed that it's still standing after almost 80 years since the
murders.
jackhammer
01/15/07 at 10:45 PM
tarheel
for those interested,! have a copy of the original story of "the lawson tragedy" that aired in wghp-tv in december
1991.
it's a copy of the story recorded off the air and it is followed by the follow-up story that i produced with the help of
Trudy Smith and her Bruce Jones'
maybe Matt or Eric can make copies of it for anyone interested in viewing it.
this off air copy was missing for over two years and it just "turned up" again in recent weeks...
I am thrilled to no end ,to say the least!
but i am excited about having it in my possesion again and really want folks who may be interested in it,to be able to
view it!
I must remind you again that it was produced for a tv news show and i was allowed over 2 minutes for each story'
i know that doesnt sound like a whole lot of time.but the adverge tv news stories only run about a minute to a minute
and a half!
somehow or another i was able to edit my story to over 3 minutes (eternity in the tv news world) but the response
that came in after it aired was proof enough that we had made the right decision!
warm regards,
Tarheel
aka,chuck hemnck_
01/16/07 at 02:04 PM
jackhammer
I'd definitely be interested, Tarheel. Once you figure out how best to get copies, I'll send you some money for a hard copy and shipping. I'll need you to PM me your address, unless you have a PayPal account.
Thanks.
jackhammer