Post by Brian on Jul 7, 2009 2:00:36 GMT -5
02/24/07 at 10:06 AM
Maria
On December 18th, 1929, Martha Montgomery died. As the men in the community gathered outside her home as the women folk prepared her body inside her home, Charlie Lawson uttered aloud these words (according to Claude Lawson in his televised interview) "I wouldn't mind dying if I could take my family with me." Exactly a week to the day later, Charlie Lawson did indeed die and take his family (with the exception of Arthur)with him. This tells me that for at least a week before he killed his family and himself, Charlie Lawson was thinking about death for himself as well as for his family. This also tells me it was premeditated. Also, I wonder why none of the men in the crowd who heard him say something so disturbing and out of place talk to him about this and offer him and his family help.
Maria
02/24/07 at 12:59 PM
sissy
I don't know about anbody else, but I think If i heard somebody saying this it would have been a huge RED FLAG that something was not exactly right.
sissy
02/24/07 at 01:24 PM
jackhammer
I think that you're right, Sissy. In hindsight, that is a big ole red flag. But not knowing what was coming a week down the line, I wonder if they took it to mean that he was thinking about killing them. If someone believed in an afterlife, be it heaven or something like that, I can see where one might think that they wouldn't mind dying if he/she coutd take their family with them. Going on to "another place", one would certainly miss his/her family. I wonder if Charlie felt that he was dying, and made a decision to bring the family with him. Of course, if he believed in heaven and hell, he should have realized that they'd be going to different locations. Just playing devil's advocate, here.
Much of the evil in the world is brought about by people believing they are acting for good and righteous reasons.
Margaret Weis
jackhammer
02/24/07 at 01:50 PM
douglasboulding
there were times when family tried to talk to him about what was wrong .my dad when he spent nights with him in the barn weeks before the murders ask him what was wrong charlie told him he was afraid of dieing and leaving his family alone and having them to fend for themselves .i do think that charlie thought he was gonna die soon from his own health reasons he had been sick for sometime and i do think that he thought the farm could not make it without him running it.back then the men ran everything and his son was very young maybe he thought they would lose everything.and later on it was lost .there people even now kill themselves and family because of lose of jobs losing there homes losing there loved ones we will never know for sure what happend in his mind it may have been a lot of things that happend building up to all this not just one thing or maybe it was .i think why that he had that photo made was one way of keeping his family together forever for all to see. has kinda worked .
keneth d boulding
02/24/07 at 01:55 PM
linda
This was also in "the Meaning of Our Tears" and when I read it I thought then that Charlie was really sick and thought he maybe dying and planning to take his family with him in death. I think he was sick from his headaches and pain from the out break on his chest and the doctors not helping him that he thought that death was not too far off for him and he starting thinking of what to do. It would be hard thinking this and wondering what would happen to your family after you are gone. I have always thought he killed hisself because he thought he was really sick with something and this drove him to do it and take his family. I think if it was true Marie was with his child or by her boyfriend, Charlie somehow would have worked it out and not took his family lives. I think he was worried how they would handle everything after he died and go on without him.
linda smith
02/24/07 at 02:25 PM
jackhammer
I know that it was a different time, and life was much harder then, but I think that it takes an awfully big ego to think that your family cannot get by without you. I mean, if he had a son that supposedly stood up to his father, then he had a son that was physically capable of doing much of what the father could do.
Much of the evil in the world is brought about by people believing they are acting for good and righteous reasons. -
Margaret Weis
jackhammer
02/24/07 at 03:48 PM
Maria
I agree Jackhamrner. In the photo Arthur is taller than his Father and looks plenty fit to me to run the farm, even without his father. And he was no youngun. he was 16 years old and a big strapping lad. I also think if Arthur was to much of a weakling to run the farm then why didn't his father kill him as well. Charlie had 4 brothers living near by and Fannie had more brothers than that. I feel sure they would have helped his children out. Families were closer to each other back then than they are now. I think Charlie's reason for wanting to die and take his family with him was definitely something other than fearing they and the farm couldn't make it without him.
Maria
02/24/07 at 07:26 PM
douglasboulding
do you remember when you all were 16 could you run a farm keep the family feed it would be a lot on a kid a young man trying to find his way in life
keneth d boulding
02/24/07 at 07:49 PM
douglasboulding
he would have killed him as well if he could have got to him as there were to many people there i think he really wanted to .i dont really know if arthur had the know how to sell all the crops drive them to winston even know what to even do that's a lot for a kid what you think y'all
keneth d boulding
02/24/07 at 08:17 PM
Maria
Hi Douglas,
We interviewed a 92 year old man who said that back in those times it was so different than today. He said that a child was put to work on his family's farm by the time he was 8 years old. He said when he was 14 he worked as hard in every aspect of his family's farm as any grown man. And that in fact, he was considered "fully growed" (his words) at that time. That work ethic is still evident in him today as he still mows his lawn, works his garden, etc. by himself at age 92. We even met and interviewed a 95 year old woman living in a huge house by herself and one day when we drove up to see her she was mowing her yard on a riding mower all by herself and her yard was huge. So I expect Arthur was fully capable at age 16 to take care of it all. Just my opinion.
Maria
02/24/07 at 09:04 PM
douglasboulding
may be maybe not still love ya maris just thinking doug
keneth d boulding
02/24/07 at 09:05 PM
epdj
Years ago children were taught from a child to work. A husband and a wife had large families. The son's went with their father to the barns and the fields and were taught as a small child to look after the animals and how to help run a farm. There was milking to be done, gathering the eggs, carry in the wood. Always someone going to bring in water. The girls were taught how to work in the house, cook, clean, can the food, clean those Rabbits, churn butter, kill a chicken, pluck the feathers, in other words you had to work to live. Most of the time they also made their own clothes and washing on a washing board. Ironing the clothes. People didn't worry about their children going to school. There was to much to do at home. An attendance law was not enacted in the state until 1913. If they went to school it was really more important for a son to get an education. Women didn't need one, because they stayed at home to have children and keep things going in the house and anywhere else they was needed. So what did they need an education for to do that. That would not have been the first family left without a husband and father, who had to make it on their own. Life was hard according to the way we live now, but they didn't think so. It was what they knew and the way they always lived. From what I have read and according to the way a lot of families lived Charlies family lived a good life. Esther Johnson
epdj
02/24/07 at 09:14 PM
ladebug
I agree with all these opinions and one other thing..Why did he just not take his own life and leave those he loved. He had a son old enough to take on most of his work. I somehow think so much more to this story with the Marie thing.
ladebug
Maria
On December 18th, 1929, Martha Montgomery died. As the men in the community gathered outside her home as the women folk prepared her body inside her home, Charlie Lawson uttered aloud these words (according to Claude Lawson in his televised interview) "I wouldn't mind dying if I could take my family with me." Exactly a week to the day later, Charlie Lawson did indeed die and take his family (with the exception of Arthur)with him. This tells me that for at least a week before he killed his family and himself, Charlie Lawson was thinking about death for himself as well as for his family. This also tells me it was premeditated. Also, I wonder why none of the men in the crowd who heard him say something so disturbing and out of place talk to him about this and offer him and his family help.
Maria
02/24/07 at 12:59 PM
sissy
I don't know about anbody else, but I think If i heard somebody saying this it would have been a huge RED FLAG that something was not exactly right.
sissy
02/24/07 at 01:24 PM
jackhammer
I think that you're right, Sissy. In hindsight, that is a big ole red flag. But not knowing what was coming a week down the line, I wonder if they took it to mean that he was thinking about killing them. If someone believed in an afterlife, be it heaven or something like that, I can see where one might think that they wouldn't mind dying if he/she coutd take their family with them. Going on to "another place", one would certainly miss his/her family. I wonder if Charlie felt that he was dying, and made a decision to bring the family with him. Of course, if he believed in heaven and hell, he should have realized that they'd be going to different locations. Just playing devil's advocate, here.
Much of the evil in the world is brought about by people believing they are acting for good and righteous reasons.
Margaret Weis
jackhammer
02/24/07 at 01:50 PM
douglasboulding
there were times when family tried to talk to him about what was wrong .my dad when he spent nights with him in the barn weeks before the murders ask him what was wrong charlie told him he was afraid of dieing and leaving his family alone and having them to fend for themselves .i do think that charlie thought he was gonna die soon from his own health reasons he had been sick for sometime and i do think that he thought the farm could not make it without him running it.back then the men ran everything and his son was very young maybe he thought they would lose everything.and later on it was lost .there people even now kill themselves and family because of lose of jobs losing there homes losing there loved ones we will never know for sure what happend in his mind it may have been a lot of things that happend building up to all this not just one thing or maybe it was .i think why that he had that photo made was one way of keeping his family together forever for all to see. has kinda worked .
keneth d boulding
02/24/07 at 01:55 PM
linda
This was also in "the Meaning of Our Tears" and when I read it I thought then that Charlie was really sick and thought he maybe dying and planning to take his family with him in death. I think he was sick from his headaches and pain from the out break on his chest and the doctors not helping him that he thought that death was not too far off for him and he starting thinking of what to do. It would be hard thinking this and wondering what would happen to your family after you are gone. I have always thought he killed hisself because he thought he was really sick with something and this drove him to do it and take his family. I think if it was true Marie was with his child or by her boyfriend, Charlie somehow would have worked it out and not took his family lives. I think he was worried how they would handle everything after he died and go on without him.
linda smith
02/24/07 at 02:25 PM
jackhammer
I know that it was a different time, and life was much harder then, but I think that it takes an awfully big ego to think that your family cannot get by without you. I mean, if he had a son that supposedly stood up to his father, then he had a son that was physically capable of doing much of what the father could do.
Much of the evil in the world is brought about by people believing they are acting for good and righteous reasons. -
Margaret Weis
jackhammer
02/24/07 at 03:48 PM
Maria
I agree Jackhamrner. In the photo Arthur is taller than his Father and looks plenty fit to me to run the farm, even without his father. And he was no youngun. he was 16 years old and a big strapping lad. I also think if Arthur was to much of a weakling to run the farm then why didn't his father kill him as well. Charlie had 4 brothers living near by and Fannie had more brothers than that. I feel sure they would have helped his children out. Families were closer to each other back then than they are now. I think Charlie's reason for wanting to die and take his family with him was definitely something other than fearing they and the farm couldn't make it without him.
Maria
02/24/07 at 07:26 PM
douglasboulding
do you remember when you all were 16 could you run a farm keep the family feed it would be a lot on a kid a young man trying to find his way in life
keneth d boulding
02/24/07 at 07:49 PM
douglasboulding
he would have killed him as well if he could have got to him as there were to many people there i think he really wanted to .i dont really know if arthur had the know how to sell all the crops drive them to winston even know what to even do that's a lot for a kid what you think y'all
keneth d boulding
02/24/07 at 08:17 PM
Maria
Hi Douglas,
We interviewed a 92 year old man who said that back in those times it was so different than today. He said that a child was put to work on his family's farm by the time he was 8 years old. He said when he was 14 he worked as hard in every aspect of his family's farm as any grown man. And that in fact, he was considered "fully growed" (his words) at that time. That work ethic is still evident in him today as he still mows his lawn, works his garden, etc. by himself at age 92. We even met and interviewed a 95 year old woman living in a huge house by herself and one day when we drove up to see her she was mowing her yard on a riding mower all by herself and her yard was huge. So I expect Arthur was fully capable at age 16 to take care of it all. Just my opinion.
Maria
02/24/07 at 09:04 PM
douglasboulding
may be maybe not still love ya maris just thinking doug
keneth d boulding
02/24/07 at 09:05 PM
epdj
Years ago children were taught from a child to work. A husband and a wife had large families. The son's went with their father to the barns and the fields and were taught as a small child to look after the animals and how to help run a farm. There was milking to be done, gathering the eggs, carry in the wood. Always someone going to bring in water. The girls were taught how to work in the house, cook, clean, can the food, clean those Rabbits, churn butter, kill a chicken, pluck the feathers, in other words you had to work to live. Most of the time they also made their own clothes and washing on a washing board. Ironing the clothes. People didn't worry about their children going to school. There was to much to do at home. An attendance law was not enacted in the state until 1913. If they went to school it was really more important for a son to get an education. Women didn't need one, because they stayed at home to have children and keep things going in the house and anywhere else they was needed. So what did they need an education for to do that. That would not have been the first family left without a husband and father, who had to make it on their own. Life was hard according to the way we live now, but they didn't think so. It was what they knew and the way they always lived. From what I have read and according to the way a lot of families lived Charlies family lived a good life. Esther Johnson
epdj
02/24/07 at 09:14 PM
ladebug
I agree with all these opinions and one other thing..Why did he just not take his own life and leave those he loved. He had a son old enough to take on most of his work. I somehow think so much more to this story with the Marie thing.
ladebug
