Written By: Leo Lawton
February 2, 2021
Philo Lawton of Chaumont, Jefferson County, New York, born in 1818 married Catherine Clark of the same village in 1853, and by 1864 they had five children born unto them. I’ve never found it so, but I believe Philo was probably a victim of the Civil War that had been raging for several years. First there were three girls to enlarge this family. The fourth born, in 1862, was a boy which they named Silas. When Silas matured he married Laura Kempton also of Chaumont, Jefferson County, New York, and on the 6th of March1887 a son named Claude was born unto Silas and Laura. Claude married Catherine Litz in 1912, and they managed to have fourteen children by 1937. The thirteenth was Agnes Mary Lawton born in 1934, who along with her husband Allen Blake had nine children, the seventh being Jack Owen Blake born in 1962.Arthur Shawcross was born in 1945 in Maine, but by 1972 was residing in Watertown, New York where he met ten-year-old Jack Blake. Jack disappeared one day and his mother found that he had been with the man named Arthur. After many days of searching by volunteers they had to give up. Jack was nowhere to be found.
Four months later Helene Hill’s daughter eight-year-old Karen Ann was raped and murdered near the Black River in Watertown. She was located under a Black River bridge. During a prolonged questioning of Arthur Shawcross it was discovered he had been the murderer, but also was deemed to be the murderer of Jack Blake.
Arthur Shawcross was sentenced up to 25 years in prison during October 1972. It was to be Arthur Shawcross’s destiny to be given a conditional release in 1987 after serving fifteen years of his sentence. He was placed in Rochester, New York where he began raping and killing prostitutes.“
The Misbegotten Son” was a book written by Jack Olsen and distributed in 1993.