Tom Dooley: The Story Behind the Ballad

If you grew up in the 1950's, you will remember the Kingston Trio's hit song, Tom Dooley. For many of us it was our introduction to the story of a man, a romance, and a murder, but in the 1860's this story captivated the nation. Even now there is disagreement about Dula's (pronounced Dooley) involvement in the crime.

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.

I met her on the mountain, there I took her life.

I met her on the mountain, and stopped her with my knife.

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.

This time tomorrow, reckon where I’ll be

If it hadn’t been for Grayson, I’d been in Tennessee

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.

  Banjo Solo (chorus melody)

This time tomorrow, reckon where I’ll be

Down in some lonesome valley hangin’ on a white oak tree

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.

This time tomorrow, reckon where I’ll be

Down in some lonesome valley hangin’ on a white oak tree

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.

(The lyrics above are ballad singer Frank Proffitt Jr.'s version of the song that he said his grandmother heard Tom Dula singing bits of in his jail cell.  There are counter claims as to the authorship of the ballad, but I like Frank Proffitt's singing of the song so I choose to believe his story.)

As a ballad singer, I knew the story of Tom Dula in song and assumed his guilt was proven beyond doubt. Reynold's story and her afterword notes made me realize that Tom Dula is still on the minds of North Carolinians, historians and folklorists and that the murder of Laura Foster is, to many people, still unsolved. Tom hung for it and he cleared Ann Melton from his jail cell; he also swore on the scaffold that his hand had no part in Laura's death. So who was the murderer? Was it really Tom, or was it his longtime lover Ann Melton, her cousin Pauline, or one of Laura's other suitors? Is the answer that more than one person was involved?


Karen Reynolds offers a fictionalized account of the story, tracing the origins of the tragedy back to the birth of Ann Foster Melton as an illegitimate child of a mother who was a societal outcast. Growing up nearby was Tom Dula anAs a ballad singer, I knew the story of Tom Dula in song and assumed his guilt was proven beyond doubt. Reynold's story and her afterword notes made me realize that Tom Dula is still on the minds of North Carolinians, historians and folklorists and that the murder of Laura Foster is, to many people, still unsolved. Tom hung for it and he cleared Ann Melton from his jail cell; he also swore on the scaffold that his hand had no part in Laura's death. So who was the murderer? Was it really Tom, or was it Ann, Pauline, or one of Laura's other suitors? Is the answer that more than one person was involved? d his brothers and sister and the children were often playmates, along with Laura Foster, Ann's cousin. As very young teens a romance developed between Tom and Ann, a romance that would withstand her marriage to another man, Tom's service in the Civil War as a Confederate soldier and even his involvement with other women. Indeed, after his return from the war Tom apparently  slept with Ann in her husband's home while her husband was there. It seems the James Melton knew of the liaison but did nothing to intervene.

Love triangles are not infrequent at any time in history, but Dula's was complicated by his involvement with Laura Foster and his alleged meetings with another Foster cousin, Pauline. According to some sources, Pauline gave Tom syphilis and he passed the disease on to Ann and Laura. Sources disagree on whether Laura was pregnant and on the involvement of Ann, Pauline Foster and others in Laura's murder. It is a complex story with many possible solutions, almost a choose-your-own-ending kind of a tale. for an author there are many possible ways to present the people, the community and its mores, and even the murder and subsequent trials.

Reynolds tackles the complicated personalities of Tom Dula and Ann Foster admirably, presenting both their strengths and flaws in a story that weaves between them, their families, and the twisted relationships that pulled all involved into a net of jealousy, deception, infatuation, betrayal and tragedy. Dialogue is crisp and the story's threads are capably handled by Reynolds as tensions and intrigue become knotty with inter-relationships and mystery.

I read this book in one sitting; the story is morbidly fascinating and strangely touching. After all, a love that withstood so much adversity is surely a rare find in this world, although in the end it also proved to be the undoing of the lovers. While I could not like Tom Dula, still I found him a compassionate character as he dove deeper into the darkness of his obsession with Ann. Of all those involved it is Dula's mother who touched my heart most strongly as she stood by her "only remaining boy."

Karen Reynolds is no newcomer to the tale, drawing some of her story from family history and her research as the author of the play Tom Dooley: A Wilkes County Legend that is in its eleventh season of production. Her list of characters at the end of the book is useful to explain relationships and provides the basis for Reynold's version of the story.

We may never know who killed little Laura Foster. The story will live on, and others will write their own endings, but few will match Karen Reynolds' tight, well-written story with its depth of characters, sense of place and rich dialogue.