Post by Brian on Oct 15, 2013 8:57:48 GMT -5
01/09/08 at 08:39 AM
Maria
According to several newspaper articles covering the death of Charlie Lawson's millionaire brother Jim Lawson, the article describes Jim (and Charlie Lawson and their brothers and sisters) as having lived in a destitute family in the mid-south hill country (Lawsonville). It goes on to say that: "he was one of nine children and the family was poverty stricken." Jim Lawson liked to joke that virtually everyone had the same name in Lawsonville...LAWSON. Jim Lawson rose from terrible poverty to become a multi-millionaire. This man who had no schooling until he enrolled in a Presbyterian elementary school when he was 23 years old became a huge success. Though raised in the same identical environment with the same set of parents and upbringing, what a completely different person he was from his brother Charlie Lawson, the notorious family annihilator. It surely gives you something to wonder about as you wander about.
Maria
01/09/08 at 10:53 PM
doodlebug
That makes you wonder how it made the rest of the family feel to hear they were "poverty stricken". I heard my grandfather say many times that he never knew they were poor. Everyone was in the same boat, no one really had anything, they were all just "dirt farmers". It seems to me that poor then just didn't mean the same thing that it does now.
doodlebug
01/09/08 at 11:59 PM
Maria
I doubt if hearing it said they were poverty stricken bothered them at all. They all knew how poor they were. That's why each of Gus and Nancy Lawson's sons left the home in Lawsonville and moved to Germanton. They heard that the land there was better for farming. Only Gus and Nancy remained. I'm not sure but I think Charlie was the last of the brothers to leave and move to Germanton. I don't think the Lawsons were embarrassed or ashamed of being poor. As you say everyone was. I think Jim Lawson just said that as a fact about his life when he was young. It was a part of his history.
Maria
Maria
According to several newspaper articles covering the death of Charlie Lawson's millionaire brother Jim Lawson, the article describes Jim (and Charlie Lawson and their brothers and sisters) as having lived in a destitute family in the mid-south hill country (Lawsonville). It goes on to say that: "he was one of nine children and the family was poverty stricken." Jim Lawson liked to joke that virtually everyone had the same name in Lawsonville...LAWSON. Jim Lawson rose from terrible poverty to become a multi-millionaire. This man who had no schooling until he enrolled in a Presbyterian elementary school when he was 23 years old became a huge success. Though raised in the same identical environment with the same set of parents and upbringing, what a completely different person he was from his brother Charlie Lawson, the notorious family annihilator. It surely gives you something to wonder about as you wander about.
Maria
01/09/08 at 10:53 PM
doodlebug
That makes you wonder how it made the rest of the family feel to hear they were "poverty stricken". I heard my grandfather say many times that he never knew they were poor. Everyone was in the same boat, no one really had anything, they were all just "dirt farmers". It seems to me that poor then just didn't mean the same thing that it does now.
doodlebug
01/09/08 at 11:59 PM
Maria
I doubt if hearing it said they were poverty stricken bothered them at all. They all knew how poor they were. That's why each of Gus and Nancy Lawson's sons left the home in Lawsonville and moved to Germanton. They heard that the land there was better for farming. Only Gus and Nancy remained. I'm not sure but I think Charlie was the last of the brothers to leave and move to Germanton. I don't think the Lawsons were embarrassed or ashamed of being poor. As you say everyone was. I think Jim Lawson just said that as a fact about his life when he was young. It was a part of his history.
Maria