Catherine, Christine, Jimmy, Peggy, Carolyn, Paul, Betty and Rebecca Gragg Murdered by Father, 1951

Information and photo from the website Find A Grave. This link also has a photo of Carolyn Gragg. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Gragg&GSiman=1&GScid=2131807&GRid=10220733&

Carolyn Jane Gragg Birth:	Oct. 19, 1943 North Carolina, USA
Death:	May 2, 1951 Collettsville Caldwell County North Carolina, USA
She was a daughter of Ralph Marler Gragg and Ruth Ester Shirley Storie. According to newspapers, Carolyn's father shot his eight children, set the house on fire, and killed himself. Carolyn was 7 years old and attended Collettsville School. She was survived by her mother, who was not living with them at the time of the tragedy. News article in the Morganton, NC News Herald May 1951: "The answer to why and how 34-year-old Ralph Gragg, unemployed sawmill worker, ended the lives of his eight children, set fire to his home near Collettsville and took his own life Wednesday night, was probably buried forever shortly before noon Friday as two gray caskets containing the remains of Gragg were lowered in the Mt. View cemetery. "Mass funeral rites for the nine persons were conducted at the Mt. View church, which was formerly called Beautiful Baptist church, located on a knoll in the Setzer's Gap Community on the Lenoir-Collettsville Road. "The children were Katherine, 16; Christine, 13; Jimmie, 10; Peggy, nine; Carolina, seven; Paul Edward, six; Judy, four; and Rebecca, three. "Prior to the interment of the father and his eight children only two adults and two infants had previously been buried in the new graveyard which was started three years ago when the church was built. "Hundreds of persons attended the rites. The small cinder black church auditorium was packed and the church yard filled, An amplifying system had been installed in order that the crowds in the church yard could hear the services." Family links:  Parents:   Ralph Marler Gragg (1917 - 1951)  Siblings:   Catherine Gragg (1935 - 1951)*   Christine Gragg (1938 - 1951)*   Jimmy Gragg (1940 - 1951)*   Peggy Ann Gragg (1941 - 1951)*   Carolyn Jane Gragg (1943 - 1951)   Paul Edward Gragg (1945 - 1951)*   Betty June Gragg (1946 - 1951)*   Rebecca Louise Gragg (1948 - 1951)* *Calculated relationship
Burial: Mountain View Baptist Church Cemetery Lenoir Caldwell County North Carolina, USA