This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: juliedpowers Surnames: Brooks, Branch, Lawson Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.lawson/2631.4.3.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: There was a better book written by the same author Trudy Smith. You can buy her book at her website themeaningofourtears.com I don't know how accurate any of the books are, or the movies that have come out about the family. I haven't read them, and I have rented the documentary "Christmas Family Tragedy" which I am hoping to have time away from my toddlers to see it. I am trying to find the connection of my mother-n-law's family to the Lawson's. My Mother-n-law's mother kept an old scrapbook that I was recently going through and it had a ton of photos, and no names. I came across a photo in the back of the book which looked like a room that had been ransacked and there was blood everywhere and even in the baby's crib. There was another photo with it on the same page with 6 coffins ranging in size. I knew looking at the photos that there was a murder in that room. I looked up on the internet a search for family murder 1920's. There it was the Charlie Lawson Massacre. Why would my husband's grandmother have these photos? Was she related, was my husband's grandfather related? I was able to identify it was Charlie Lawson through a family photo that was on the website and the same one being in this scrapbook I now have in my hands. Charlie Lawson had his family take this photo just days before he murdered them, all but the oldest child, his son "Arthur". I guess Arthur had been at his cousins house when Charlie "broke". I have a photo of the house, the family, the murder scene and the coffins. Why? What's the connection? My husband's Grandmother was Jessie (Branch) Brooks and her husband was Charlie Louis Brooks, Sr. They were from Siler City, NC. Chatham County. The Brooks and Branch families were native to NC, Most in High Point (birth place of my oldest son who is now 3). I am trying to help my husband find out more about his family, and we haven't come across the Lawson's in our search, so I am wondering if maybe they are family or friends. Anyone with any clue as to the connection, either respond here or email me please. Julie Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.