Post by Brian on Jul 16, 2009 8:51:24 GMT -5
03/02/07 at 10:37 AM
jackhammer
Just curious here, but I was wondering what may have brought each of us to this place. This site has grown to 88 members (and counting) since December 16th. I think that we were in the 20's when I joined.
Anyway, in the spirit of getting to know each other a little better, (it's nice to know who we're talking to), I thought that maybe we could start with telling what brought us here.
I received a copy of the documentary as a Christmas present from a friend from California that was staying in Winston-Salem over the holidays. Little did he know how much that it would be appreciated. The day after I watched the film, I joined the board here. I just needed to find out as much as I could about this story. This site has definitely given me a lot more info. But it seems like the more I learn, the more I need to know.
I've lived in NC for over 20 years (over north of the Triangle area), and had never heard of this story.
Anyone else like to share their story?
Much of the evil in the world is brought about by people believing they are acting for good and righteous reasons. -
Margaret Weis
jackhammer
03/02/07 at 10:55 AM
Maria
Good question Jackhammer. I landed here via of a song I heard 40 years ago. It was the Charlie Lawson Ballad. I instantly became hooked when the woman singing the song told me the gruesome story. From time to time over the years I would see some mention about it in our local newspaper here in Winston-Salem. My interest never waned and when another article appeared in the paper on the 50th anniversary my Mom, my Son and myself went to see the cabin where the murders occurred. My Son then became hooked on the story. In 1992 I received a copy of WC/BC for Christmas. In 2006 my son joined up with a friend to make a documentary about the murders. I was recruited to help. Some months later the message forum was created and I moved into my new home (This forum) and have been here ever since. A friend of mine noted that I posted in here at 3 o'clock yesterday morning. She asked me what I was doing in here at that hour. I said "I live here".
Maria
03/02/07 at 11:24 AM
pamtfloyd
Hi Jackharnmer,
I got to this site after seeing an advertisement for the documentary in downtown Raleigh. As I said earlier, it was kind of surreal because I recognized the Lawson Family photo as one I'd seen so many times before. The first time was when I received a copy of the White Christmas book for Christmas from my great aunt Lena. I'd heard the story growing up, but the book was the first time I actually got details and saw photos. I think that was 1991? It was whatever year the book came out. The story was significant for my family because of our connection to Katherine Lawson Taylor, my great grandmother. She was Charlie's cousin. Pam
pamtfloyd
03/02/07 at 11:31AM
jackhammer
Hi Pam,
It's great to have more members of the Lawson family represented here.
It's kind of a virtual Family Reunion. Unfortunately, without all the good food.
Much of the evil in the world is brought about by people believing they are acting for good and righteous reasons. -
Margaret Weis
jackhammer
03/02/07 at 11:34 AM
sissy
What brought me here was a search for answers about my family. I remember as a child hearing the story, because my grandparents had a picture of Charlie's family in their home. My great great grandfather and Charlie's grandfather were brothers. I can remember seeing the picture of the family and asking who they were, but never made the connection because I was little. What I wouldn't give to have that photo now.
sissy
03/02/07 at 01:03 PM
linda
I live north of the Triad and hearing stories about the murder I have always been interested in it. I have kin people close to where it took place and after visiting the area I came more interested in finding out more. After reading both books and seeing the documentary I now have my son and daughter wanting to know more about it. My daughter who lives in Ga. found this website and sent it to me and that's how I came to it. I have enjoyed it so much and have learned and found out so much about the story that I didn't know. Thanks to everyone that started this site from my family.
linda smith
03/02/07 at 02:20 PM
iluvnumber3
I first learned of this site through my dad sending me the documentary preview from YouTube and my mom telling me there was another book available. I looked up BOD Prodcutions and found that you all had the forum. I have always been intrigued with this story since I was little. My grandmother used to tell me and my brother the story. I also read her book (WC/BC)many times since I was 14. I have lived in GA for 10 years now, and I truly miss NC and my family. This site has actually made me feel connected again with NC. NC history to me is always interesting! I have said it before, (to: Linda and Zombi) I will be up there soon and we can go visit some places!!
iluvnumber3
03/02/07 at 04:09 PM
douglasboulding
i can never remember a time when 1 did not know of charlie and family.i remember staying at unde Marion and staying with uncle George and aunt Nina Lawson's working on his farm in the summer months .spending Sundays all the family getting together having Sunday dinner it would be a huge crowd of all of us there, wish i could go back to that time again it was some of the best time of my life.i am glad to have been able to share my feelings here with you all. it has meant a lot to me to say what needed to be said so the family would have a voice to .thanks to maria for being a good friend she really makes you feel right at home here and Matt for making the film the way it was made with true feeling for all. THANKS DOUG
keneth d boulding
03/02/07 at 05:12 PM
Maria
Hi Doug,
You are so welcome my friend. I'm real glad you found your way here too. i always look forward to your posts. EVEN when you disagree with me" At least it isn't often and you always do it so nicely.
Your Friend,
Maria
03/02/07 at 05:55 PM
JiNx
What brought me here was that i knew Matt from a few years back, and lost touch with him. He found me by concidence on a forum when i was chewing someone out for saying the Lawsons and payne road were the same thing. Matt knew i had been reading up on this since i was in like 7th grade, and i knew alot, from what he told me. He scheduled up a meeting with me and asked to interview me for the movie, and i obliged and had a great time taking Matt and Eric out in the wilderness behind my house while they interviewed me. Then they asked if i wanted to be in some re-enactments for the film, so me and a girl i was dating at the time took him up on it. It was an awesome experience in making the scenes and meeting everyone involved, especially Maria, she is a cat-bird. My mom met her once and just loved her to death. So this whole thing has been great and i really appreciate Matt and Eric letting me get involved. And they know im at their disposal when they need me, and as Forest would say..."And thats all i have to say about that".
Thanx guys
JiNx
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves
Confucius
JiNx
03/03/07 3t 01:33 AM
ecalhoun
I had been making short films with Matt for a couple of years, and we were getting pretty good at it. we had reached the point where we needed to be doing it for real, as our job, and not as our hobby. There is just so much to do that you just can't work a normal job, come home and put a movie together.
We worked out our lives so we had a couple of months to try and move our movie adventure forward, and were asked to produce a short horror movie for a well known comic book artist. To give an idea of what goes into all this, the movie ended up being 28 mins long and was filmed in 5 days - and Matt and I worked full time for ~6 - 8 weeks lining everything up and preparing so it would go smoothly.
Matt found the perfect place to film the movie ("The Tontine") at Camp Raven Knob, a well known boyscout camp west of Mt Airy. Now he had been pitching the idea of a Lawson movie to me for years, but I was just never all that interested in it. It seemed like a dark story, sad and tragic, but! just wasn't that interested. It turned out that a week or 2 before we filmed The Tontine in Jan '06, Esther Johnson and Pat Boyles were holding one of their library programs in Danbury. We had to be up there anyway preparing, so we got permission to go to the Danbury library with our crew and film it.
What a day that was! I think that room was only supposed to hold 75 people, and about 200 came out for the presentation. Cars lined up and down the road as far as you could see, crowds spilling out of the room and into the hall, and lots of family who came out. But it wasn't the spectacle of a big crowd that made me interested in the story. I really saw that day how much this meant to the family, to the community, how much emotion was in it even still today.
That's what got my attention, and made me want to learn more, and to do this movie, was when I started putting the people to the tragedy, seeing what it meant to people like Oakley and Bobby Wayne. And boy people were nice to me, because when I see those early tapes, I sure did not know what I was talking about when I was interviewing people after the presentation, I sounded like a clueless city boy. I'm sure it all worked out because we had Maria with us to make friends!
Break of Dawn Productions
"Bringing Light to the Darkest Night"
ecalhoun
jackhammer
Just curious here, but I was wondering what may have brought each of us to this place. This site has grown to 88 members (and counting) since December 16th. I think that we were in the 20's when I joined.
Anyway, in the spirit of getting to know each other a little better, (it's nice to know who we're talking to), I thought that maybe we could start with telling what brought us here.
I received a copy of the documentary as a Christmas present from a friend from California that was staying in Winston-Salem over the holidays. Little did he know how much that it would be appreciated. The day after I watched the film, I joined the board here. I just needed to find out as much as I could about this story. This site has definitely given me a lot more info. But it seems like the more I learn, the more I need to know.
I've lived in NC for over 20 years (over north of the Triangle area), and had never heard of this story.
Anyone else like to share their story?
Much of the evil in the world is brought about by people believing they are acting for good and righteous reasons. -
Margaret Weis
jackhammer
03/02/07 at 10:55 AM
Maria
Good question Jackhammer. I landed here via of a song I heard 40 years ago. It was the Charlie Lawson Ballad. I instantly became hooked when the woman singing the song told me the gruesome story. From time to time over the years I would see some mention about it in our local newspaper here in Winston-Salem. My interest never waned and when another article appeared in the paper on the 50th anniversary my Mom, my Son and myself went to see the cabin where the murders occurred. My Son then became hooked on the story. In 1992 I received a copy of WC/BC for Christmas. In 2006 my son joined up with a friend to make a documentary about the murders. I was recruited to help. Some months later the message forum was created and I moved into my new home (This forum) and have been here ever since. A friend of mine noted that I posted in here at 3 o'clock yesterday morning. She asked me what I was doing in here at that hour. I said "I live here".
Maria
03/02/07 at 11:24 AM
pamtfloyd
Hi Jackharnmer,
I got to this site after seeing an advertisement for the documentary in downtown Raleigh. As I said earlier, it was kind of surreal because I recognized the Lawson Family photo as one I'd seen so many times before. The first time was when I received a copy of the White Christmas book for Christmas from my great aunt Lena. I'd heard the story growing up, but the book was the first time I actually got details and saw photos. I think that was 1991? It was whatever year the book came out. The story was significant for my family because of our connection to Katherine Lawson Taylor, my great grandmother. She was Charlie's cousin. Pam
pamtfloyd
03/02/07 at 11:31AM
jackhammer
Hi Pam,
It's great to have more members of the Lawson family represented here.
It's kind of a virtual Family Reunion. Unfortunately, without all the good food.
Much of the evil in the world is brought about by people believing they are acting for good and righteous reasons. -
Margaret Weis
jackhammer
03/02/07 at 11:34 AM
sissy
What brought me here was a search for answers about my family. I remember as a child hearing the story, because my grandparents had a picture of Charlie's family in their home. My great great grandfather and Charlie's grandfather were brothers. I can remember seeing the picture of the family and asking who they were, but never made the connection because I was little. What I wouldn't give to have that photo now.
sissy
03/02/07 at 01:03 PM
linda
I live north of the Triad and hearing stories about the murder I have always been interested in it. I have kin people close to where it took place and after visiting the area I came more interested in finding out more. After reading both books and seeing the documentary I now have my son and daughter wanting to know more about it. My daughter who lives in Ga. found this website and sent it to me and that's how I came to it. I have enjoyed it so much and have learned and found out so much about the story that I didn't know. Thanks to everyone that started this site from my family.
linda smith
03/02/07 at 02:20 PM
iluvnumber3
I first learned of this site through my dad sending me the documentary preview from YouTube and my mom telling me there was another book available. I looked up BOD Prodcutions and found that you all had the forum. I have always been intrigued with this story since I was little. My grandmother used to tell me and my brother the story. I also read her book (WC/BC)many times since I was 14. I have lived in GA for 10 years now, and I truly miss NC and my family. This site has actually made me feel connected again with NC. NC history to me is always interesting! I have said it before, (to: Linda and Zombi) I will be up there soon and we can go visit some places!!
iluvnumber3
03/02/07 at 04:09 PM
douglasboulding
i can never remember a time when 1 did not know of charlie and family.i remember staying at unde Marion and staying with uncle George and aunt Nina Lawson's working on his farm in the summer months .spending Sundays all the family getting together having Sunday dinner it would be a huge crowd of all of us there, wish i could go back to that time again it was some of the best time of my life.i am glad to have been able to share my feelings here with you all. it has meant a lot to me to say what needed to be said so the family would have a voice to .thanks to maria for being a good friend she really makes you feel right at home here and Matt for making the film the way it was made with true feeling for all. THANKS DOUG
keneth d boulding
03/02/07 at 05:12 PM
Maria
Hi Doug,
You are so welcome my friend. I'm real glad you found your way here too. i always look forward to your posts. EVEN when you disagree with me" At least it isn't often and you always do it so nicely.
Your Friend,
Maria
03/02/07 at 05:55 PM
JiNx
What brought me here was that i knew Matt from a few years back, and lost touch with him. He found me by concidence on a forum when i was chewing someone out for saying the Lawsons and payne road were the same thing. Matt knew i had been reading up on this since i was in like 7th grade, and i knew alot, from what he told me. He scheduled up a meeting with me and asked to interview me for the movie, and i obliged and had a great time taking Matt and Eric out in the wilderness behind my house while they interviewed me. Then they asked if i wanted to be in some re-enactments for the film, so me and a girl i was dating at the time took him up on it. It was an awesome experience in making the scenes and meeting everyone involved, especially Maria, she is a cat-bird. My mom met her once and just loved her to death. So this whole thing has been great and i really appreciate Matt and Eric letting me get involved. And they know im at their disposal when they need me, and as Forest would say..."And thats all i have to say about that".
Thanx guys
JiNx
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves
Confucius
JiNx
03/03/07 3t 01:33 AM
ecalhoun
I had been making short films with Matt for a couple of years, and we were getting pretty good at it. we had reached the point where we needed to be doing it for real, as our job, and not as our hobby. There is just so much to do that you just can't work a normal job, come home and put a movie together.
We worked out our lives so we had a couple of months to try and move our movie adventure forward, and were asked to produce a short horror movie for a well known comic book artist. To give an idea of what goes into all this, the movie ended up being 28 mins long and was filmed in 5 days - and Matt and I worked full time for ~6 - 8 weeks lining everything up and preparing so it would go smoothly.
Matt found the perfect place to film the movie ("The Tontine") at Camp Raven Knob, a well known boyscout camp west of Mt Airy. Now he had been pitching the idea of a Lawson movie to me for years, but I was just never all that interested in it. It seemed like a dark story, sad and tragic, but! just wasn't that interested. It turned out that a week or 2 before we filmed The Tontine in Jan '06, Esther Johnson and Pat Boyles were holding one of their library programs in Danbury. We had to be up there anyway preparing, so we got permission to go to the Danbury library with our crew and film it.
What a day that was! I think that room was only supposed to hold 75 people, and about 200 came out for the presentation. Cars lined up and down the road as far as you could see, crowds spilling out of the room and into the hall, and lots of family who came out. But it wasn't the spectacle of a big crowd that made me interested in the story. I really saw that day how much this meant to the family, to the community, how much emotion was in it even still today.
That's what got my attention, and made me want to learn more, and to do this movie, was when I started putting the people to the tragedy, seeing what it meant to people like Oakley and Bobby Wayne. And boy people were nice to me, because when I see those early tapes, I sure did not know what I was talking about when I was interviewing people after the presentation, I sounded like a clueless city boy. I'm sure it all worked out because we had Maria with us to make friends!
Break of Dawn Productions
"Bringing Light to the Darkest Night"
ecalhoun