Near Mayfield, Kentucky, neighbors were awakened at midnight by screams, gunshots, and the glow of a burning home.
By the time they rushed toward the Lawrence family’s three-room log house, the flames had already grown too fierce to enter. All anyone could do was stand back and watch as the fire consumed the building and everyone trapped inside.
When the ruins cooled, officials found 11 bodies in the ashes.
Two entire families were dead, and the scene left behind only fragments of horror: blood-soaked clothing, a pistol with three chambers fired, and no living witness to explain what had happened.
Police followed every clue they could find, but each one led nowhere. The Mayfield “red night” became a mystery so complete that even the sheriff feared it might never be solved.
Mayfield’s Red Night Mystery Baffles Police
MAYFIELD, Kentucky. — County officials, under the leadership of Sheriff Marion McLain, today were vainly endeavoring to piece the veil of mystery which surrounds the death of 11 persons, two entire families, whose charred bodies were found in the smoking ruins of a three-room log house near here yesterday.
The bodies were those of Ernest Lawrence, 31, his wife, 25, and three children: Otis Drew, 28, his wife, and three children, and Delmar Drew, 25, brother of Otis. The two women were sisters.
Neighbors Hear Screams
Neighbors heard screams and gunshots at midnight Saturday. Rushing to the Lawrence home, they were driven back by a wall of flame.
Yesterday, when the ruins had cooled, the 11 bodies were found.
Blood-soaked bits of clothing clung to some of the bodies.
A pistol was found, three chambers discharged.
Various theories were advanced. Sheriff McLain believed an enemy of the family might have committed the wholesale slaughter. A possibility that one of the persons had suddenly become demented was believed.
Today officers declared themselves baffled. Every clue had led to a blank wall. The sheriff said today that with every occupant of the house dead, with no witnesses discovered and with the failure of every clue, the mystery of Mayfield’s “red night” may never be solved.
Source: Washington Standard. Olympia, Wash. Territory. July 1, 1921.
