Biography
Green Lawson was a local miner and National Miners Union organizer in the Brush Creek section of Kentucky. On February 10, 1932, he and youth organizer Harry Simms were walking along the railroad to meet miners heading to a demonstration in Pineville. Deputies Arlin Miller and Red Davis approached them in a railroad car, and Miller shot Simms. The deputies arrested Lawson and took him to jail in Artemus on a charge of carrying a gun.
The May 8, 1934 Daily Worker biographical sketch of Harry Simms identifies Green Lawson as his companion when deputies shot Simms in Kentucky and states that Lawson was arrested while Simms lay wounded. It places the episode after the February 9, 1932 youth conference without supplying an independently exact arrest day. This corroborates the existing Lawson case; it does not establish a second arrest, conviction, release or complete custody total. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n110-may-08-1934-DW-LOC.pdf#page=5
Polly Boyden’s March 1932 account, relaying Frank Mason’s description, says Green Lawson was searched during the confrontation in which Harry Simms was shot. It reports their transport to Barboursville and Lawson’s immediate jailing on a concealed-weapons charge. This source places the jailing at Barboursville, while the separately retained account names Artemus; the location difference is preserved without creating another arrest, transfer date or custody total.
