The Story of the “Ballad of Tom Dooley”1

Years ago I was performing in Wilkes County, North Carolina. On the program was a friend of mine named Bobby McMillan, a fine folk performer, storyteller, and ballad singer whom I had known since our early performing days up in Cosby, Tennessee, in the cradle of the Great Smoky Mountains. I did my usual stories leading into songs, with a smattering of Civil-War-era songs, and African American ballads such as “Stagolee” thrown in for good measure. After our performances, several of the local teenagers and college-aged folks gathered around to talk and “swap lies.” One of the locals expressed their joy at my songs about “bad men” and mentioned that an old folk legend, “Tom Dooley,” had taken place around those parts and that some of them were “kin” to the characters in the song. I expressed interest and was shortly taken up to the gravesite of Tom Dula and his alleged murder victim, Laura Foster. Then they proceeded to tell me of the local legend that Tom had “not committed the murder,” but that Laura’s cousin, Anne Foster Melton, who had been a rival for the affections of Tom, had given a “death-bed” confession to the murder. There was some talk of a “social disease” as having been another motive for the crime. I began to surmise on the possibilities that Tom had “heroically” given up his life to “protect” Anne. I began to dig around and have come up with the following story. Thomas C. Dula (pronounced Dooley) was born in 1844 or 1845 and grew up in Wilkes County, North Carolina. It was near the town of Elkville (present day Ferguson) on State Route 268 west of Wilkesboro. He served in the Confederate Army in Company “K” of the 42nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment, which was commanded by Colonel George C. Gibbs. The Regiment was in service from 1862