Tom Dula was hanged for the 1866 murder of Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina, which later inspired a classic song — but did he really do it?
In 1958, a folk group called The Kingston Trio released a popular song called “Tom Dooley.” Their recording, based on a much older folk tune, told the story of a man who had murdered his lover and was hanged for the crime.
One stanza goes: “I met her on the mountain/There I took her life/Met her on the mountain/Stabbed her with my knife,” while the song’s refrain is “Hang down your head, Tom Dooley/Hang down your head and cry/Hang down your head, Tom Dooley/Poor boy, you’re bound to die.”
Soon, The Kingston Trio’s recording proved so popular that it even inspired a movie that came out in 1959 called The Legend Of Tom Dooley.
What may have become forgotten over time, however, was that Tom Dooley was a real person — and he was in fact executed for murdering his lover, Laura Foster, in 1866.
But did Tom Dula really do it?
Wikimedia CommonsThe grave of Laura Foster, which notes that Tom Dula was hanged for her murder (though provides the incorrect year of death).
Especially in his native North Carolina, Tom Dula’s story has long fascinated listeners. As the story goes, Dula was a young man who grew up in Wilkes County, North Carolina, served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and returned home after the conflict ended, where he had romantic relationships with two women: Anne Melton and her cousin, Laura Foster (and possibly Laura’s sister, Pauline). This arrangement seemingly worked at first, but in the spring of 1866, things took a tragic turn.
On the morning of May 25, Laura Foster packed a bag of clothing, got on her family’s horse, and rode off toward a known lover’s lane nearby. The next morning, her horse returned to the Foster home without her, and a frantic search soon turned up her body in a shallow grave.
Suspicion quickly fell on Tom Dula, who, though he fled, was soon arrested and brought back to North Carolina to stand trial. After being found guilty of killing Laura — though Dula maintained his innocence — he was executed on May 1, 1868.
At the time, Tom Dula was just 23 years old. And not everyone believes that he was guilty.
Indeed, Dula’s story is one of a love triangle gone wrong. It’s one of war, romance, betrayal, and tragic violence. And, if some accounts of his story are to be believed, it’s about making the ultimate sacrifice to protect the person you love most.
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