ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1905, eight- year-old Kenneth Beasley walked to the back of his school’s playground and into the melting snow of the woods beyond. He never returned. A massive search was undertaken for the North Carolina state senator’s son, and a reward was offered. Despite clues, rumors and even a ransom note, he was never found.
A year and a half later, a political rival hurriedly was charged. Accused of the most bizarre and twisted of plots, he faced a courtroom overflowing with jurors, star lawyers, spectators and newspaper reporters. The eventual verdict and stunning aftermath would rip apart two families and shock a state ... yet leave a mystery unsolved.
NOW CHARLES OLDHAM, attorney by trade, has reopened the case. Using modern research methods and his own legal training—while also investigating the state’s political, racial, lynching, and liquor cultures—Oldham has come as close as anyone can to the truth.
The result is an absorbing, must-read story. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, THE SENATOR’S SON: The Shocking Disappearance, The Celebrated Trial, and The Mystery That Remains a Century Later is both an important book and a fascinating one.
“Fascinating … murky … The Senator’s Son is local history at its finest.”
– DEAN KING, best-selling author
“The book is craftily written, deeply researched, and will stick to your hands like a lantern during this dark, raveled Southern tale of disappearance.”
– DAVID L. ROBBINS, best-selling author
“A vibrant, engrossing true tale … both educational and nearly impossible to stop reading.”
– Diane Donovan, MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW.