Post by Brian on Apr 17, 2009 14:20:41 GMT -5
04/O8/O8 at 02:47 PM
Maria
This morning I agreed to go to Wilkesboro with a friend of mine who wanted me to go with her there to buy some bee hives. She's going to start bee-hiving. I thought on my way up there at 8:30 a.m. that this was going to be one heck of a boring expedition. Was I ever surprised!! After we purchased the bee hives I said "let's go find something fun to do." As we were riding down main street I saw a sign that said "visit the old jail where Tom Dooley was incarcerated until his hanging. So I screamed "STOP Susan, there's a sign with Tom Dooley's name on it and a noose." So off we went to take the tour. It was fascinating!! Tom Dooley's cell was on the top floor and so was his girlfriend Ann Melton's cell. Tom Dooley had the only cell though with double bars on the windows. The cells both upstairs and downstairs were furnished exactly as they were back when he was there. The head of the jail and his wife and children had their living quarters on one side of the downstairs part of the jail. Here are some of the photos I took. I'm going back next Saturday night for a ghost walk tour in Wilkesboro. It's only held on Saturday nights beginning at 7 p.m.
04/O8/O8 at 02:52 PM
Angel71242
That's awesome!!!!!! I will certainly remember that if I am ever up that way!! 1 would LOVE to tour an old jail and I can't wait to hear about the ghost walk"
"I thought on my way up there at 8:30 a.m. that this was going to be one heck of a boring expedition."
I hope your friend doesn't read this message forum"
04/O8/O8 at 03:50 PM
Laurie1125
Tom Dooley" is an old North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a girl named Laura Foster in Wilkes County. North Carolina. It is best known today because of a hit version recorded in 1953 by The Kingston Trio.
Impoverished Confederate veteran Tom Dula (Dooley), Laura Foster's lover and probable fiance, was convicted of her murder and hanged in 1868. Foster was stabbed to death with a large knife; the brutality of the attack partly accounted for the widespread publicity the murder and subsequent trial received.
Dula had a second lover, Anne Melton. It was her comments that led to the discovery of Foster's body; Melton was acquitted in a separate trial based on his word. Many believed that Melton was the real killer and that Dula admitted guilt to protect her. This assumption was based on stories at the time that Melton was jealous of Dula's upcoming marriage to Foster, and that she had murdered Foster to eliminate her as a rival for Dula's affections. Thanks to the efforts of newspapers such as The New York Times, and to the fact that former North Carolina governor Zebulon Vance represented Dula pro bonof Dula's murder trial and subsequent hanging were given widespread national publicity for the time. Further adding to the Dula legend was the fact that a local poet, Thomas C. Land, wrote a popular song about Dula's tragedy after the hanging.
A man named "Grayson," mentioned in the song as pivotal in Dula's downfall, has sometimes been characterized as a romantic rival of Dula's or a vengeful sheriff who captured him and presided over his hanging. Some variant lyrics of the song portray Grayson in that light, and the spoken introduction to the Kingston Trio version did the same. Col. James Grayson was actually a Tennessee politician who had hired Dula on his farm when the young man fled North Carolina under suspicion and was using a false name. Grayson did help North Carolinians capture Dula and was personally involved in returning him to North Carolina, but otherwise played no role in the case.
Dula was tried in Statesville. because it was believed he could not get a fair trial in Wilkes County. He was given a new trial on appeal but he was again convicted, and hanged on May 1. 1868. His alleged accomplice, Jack Keaton, was set free. On the gallows, Dula reportedly stated, "Gentlemen, do you see this hand? I didn't harm a hair on the girl's head."
Dula's last name was pronounced Dooley, leading to some confusion in spelling over the years. (The pronunciation of a final "a" like "y" is an old feature in Appalachian speech, as in the term "Grand Ole Opry".
The doleful ballad was probably first sung shortly after the execution and is still commonly sung in North Carolina. The song was selected as ore of the Songs of the Century.
In the documentary Appatechran Journey (1991), Alan Lomax describes Frank Proffitt as the "original source" for the song, It is unclear exactly what LomaK means by this but, since it seems that the song predates Frank Proffitt's early version, it is likely that Lomax means that Proffitt's version is the one that has become most well known to us because the Kingston Trio derived their interpretation from Proffitt's. Certainly, there is an earlier known recording by Grayson and Whitter made in 1929, approximately ten years before Proffitt cut his own recording of the song.
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
Met her on the mountain, stabbed her with my knife
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry (ah-uh-eye)
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die
This time tomorrow,
reckon where I'll be
Hadn't-a been for Grayson,
I'd-a been in Tennessee (well now, boy)
Hang down (your head) your head (Dooley} and cry
Hang down your head and cry (ah poor boy, ah well-ah}
Hang down (your head) your head (Dooley) and cry
Poor boy, you're bound to die (ah well now boy)
Hang down (your head) your head (Dooley) and cry
Hang down your head and cry (ah poor boy, ah well-ah)
Hang down (your head) your head (Dooley) and cry
Poor boy, you're bound to die
This time tomorrow,
reckon where I'll be
Down in some lonesome valley
hangin' from a white oak tree
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry (ah-uh-eye)
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die (ah well now boy)
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry (poor boy ah well uh)
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die
Poor boy, you're bound to die
Poor boy, you're bound to die
Poor boy, you're bound to .......die
04/03/03 at 04:20 PM
Angel71242
Laurie -that's nice you put all that information in here but you could make your life a heck of a lot easier if you would post a link instead of typing/copying/pasting, Just trying to help,
04/08/08 at 09:06 PM
doodlebug
LOL, Angel, I'm bad to do the typing/copy/pasting thing too! On my two forums, I get so used to doing it, it gets away from me on other forums, but doing the backlinks that way helps to increase your PR ranking for search engines.....(please don't ask me what that statement means, they tried to explain it, finally just gave up and told me
to do it")
Anyway, back on topic. Maria, that's it, you're just gonna have to start traveling with me when daughter has a dance competition" Ever competition, I usually have hours of "nothing" time and just drive around to see if I can find anything. Do you know how many times I've driven past that jail in downtown Wilkesboro and just vaguely noticed the sign? Never occurred to me to stop....now I'm jealous, what a great place" Kind of reminds me of some of the Old West areas where they've preserved jail cells and residences of notorious characters.
04/09/O8 at 05:55 AM
Maria
I was amazed at how nice the jail cells were back then in Wilkesboro. In this jail the cells were quite large and well furnished and attractive, for a jail cell housing a murderer. And only one inmate to a cell. I have been to other old timey jails from back when in St. Augustine, Florida, Mt. Airyp Washington D.C. and Tennessee and believe mep the one in Wilkesboro is fancy in comparison. Of course as our guide tour Diane told us yesterday, it was dark in the cells and vey cold which though it looked comfortable, it was not. Add to that the lonliness, the lack of anything to do with your time, and the worry and fear of your impending execution, it was/is not a place I would want to be in, even if the rent is free. Of the several old jails from that time period that I have visited, the one that was the worst looking one and the scariest looking was the one in Mt. Airy. It gave me the shakes. It truly did alter my mood and disposition while I was touring it. but the worst one in the country, which ever one it isp is nothing in comparison to what the jailsp or as they were called Dungeons, were like in England. You do not want to go there.
04/09/O8 at O8:32 AM
Maria
I found this photo of Tom dooley's grave that I really like. I wish it were larger so we could see it better. Laura Foster is the girl Tom murdered.
04/09/O8 at 09:03 AM
Angel71242
Awesome pics Maria" (As always") I really like the head jailer's family living quarters'" It looks like they were well off what with having that beautiful grandfather clock and a baby grand piano. I also love the photo of the window in Tom Dooley's cell, the one with the lantern in the window. And you inside the jail cell looking out!!!!!!!!!!
04/09/O8 at 09:27 AM
sissy2
You get to go to the coolest places. Love the pictures. They should have thrown away the key when they stuck u in
jail!!!
04/09/08 at 09:41 AM
Maria
The tour guide Diane had the cell key in her hand after she locked me in and she grinned at me and turned and walked away as if she were leaving. I hate to show this photo of me because I look terrible but when Diane acted like she was going to leave me locked in there I went to hollering at the top of my lungs and Susan snatched this awful photo of me screaming HELP COME BACK HERE WITH THAT KEY. I'M CALLING SECURITY!!
D04/09/O8 at 10:10 AM
Angel71242
LOL!!! That picture is toooo funny!!!
04/09/08 at 05:57PM
Michael818
There is much evidence that Tom Dula was innocent of this crime. His so-called "confession" was simply a ploy to keep his beloved Ann Melton from the hangman's noose, And it worked.
Most now concede that if the case were in the present court system, Dula would most likely have never gone to trial on the flimsy evidence that the law had. A movement to pardon Tom began in the eaqrly 90's,
Most people in the area now believe that Ann Melton committed the crime, or her cousin, Pauline Foster, or both, Tom is rarely included as an active participant, though he may have known about it later, or even stumbled upon it. I have been in contact with Mrs. Wheeling Reynolds, the author of the play, and with the museum devoted to the Dula Legend in Happy Valley (the name of the valley, not a town).
When I was researching this story for my book, I went up to the area, and was granted unprecedented access at the time, A "sensitive" who was with me wasn't told anything about where we were going, and I was careful to avoid the signs as much as possible, She MAY have seen one, but I don't think she had enough time to read as I drove by,
This woman said she felt the presence of a girl named Laurie (Laura is sometimes pronounced that way by hillfolk). She felt this woman had died violently on the hillside there, and that the last face she saw was a WOMAN with raven black hair (Ann had such). But she wasn't clear if this was the killer or not. Said the SPIRIT wasn't sure, which leads me to believe Laura Foster was fallen upon from behind.
Anyway, though history says he was, I am not convinced that Tom Dula was a murderer.
PS; COOL pics, Mariai
Michael R.
04/11/08 at 09:41 AM
Maria
A friend and I are going to the town of Ferguson on Monday, the 14th to tour the Tom Dooley Museum and visit his grave as well. There's a lot more to see at the museum about Tom Dooley than there was at the jail where he was incarcerated, although I did enjoy the tour at the jail. I'm really looking forward to the museum about him and seeing where he is buried.
04/11/08 at 05:02 PM
Michael818
Whaaaa! I wanna go! Have to work. Blast it! Get some good pics! And, I THINK they have my book up there at Whiporwill Academy, Maria. I talked to the lady a while back, and she ordered some. Tell her hello! Never got to actually MEET her!
Michael R.
04/14/O8 at 09:04 AM
Maria
I'll be gone all day today..going to visit the Tom Dooley museum. So keep an eye on things in here for me Angel.
04/14/O8 at 09:06 AM
Angel71242
No problem! i just wish I could go too.................
Maria
This morning I agreed to go to Wilkesboro with a friend of mine who wanted me to go with her there to buy some bee hives. She's going to start bee-hiving. I thought on my way up there at 8:30 a.m. that this was going to be one heck of a boring expedition. Was I ever surprised!! After we purchased the bee hives I said "let's go find something fun to do." As we were riding down main street I saw a sign that said "visit the old jail where Tom Dooley was incarcerated until his hanging. So I screamed "STOP Susan, there's a sign with Tom Dooley's name on it and a noose." So off we went to take the tour. It was fascinating!! Tom Dooley's cell was on the top floor and so was his girlfriend Ann Melton's cell. Tom Dooley had the only cell though with double bars on the windows. The cells both upstairs and downstairs were furnished exactly as they were back when he was there. The head of the jail and his wife and children had their living quarters on one side of the downstairs part of the jail. Here are some of the photos I took. I'm going back next Saturday night for a ghost walk tour in Wilkesboro. It's only held on Saturday nights beginning at 7 p.m.
04/O8/O8 at 02:52 PM
Angel71242
That's awesome!!!!!! I will certainly remember that if I am ever up that way!! 1 would LOVE to tour an old jail and I can't wait to hear about the ghost walk"
"I thought on my way up there at 8:30 a.m. that this was going to be one heck of a boring expedition."
I hope your friend doesn't read this message forum"
04/O8/O8 at 03:50 PM
Laurie1125
Tom Dooley" is an old North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a girl named Laura Foster in Wilkes County. North Carolina. It is best known today because of a hit version recorded in 1953 by The Kingston Trio.
Impoverished Confederate veteran Tom Dula (Dooley), Laura Foster's lover and probable fiance, was convicted of her murder and hanged in 1868. Foster was stabbed to death with a large knife; the brutality of the attack partly accounted for the widespread publicity the murder and subsequent trial received.
Dula had a second lover, Anne Melton. It was her comments that led to the discovery of Foster's body; Melton was acquitted in a separate trial based on his word. Many believed that Melton was the real killer and that Dula admitted guilt to protect her. This assumption was based on stories at the time that Melton was jealous of Dula's upcoming marriage to Foster, and that she had murdered Foster to eliminate her as a rival for Dula's affections. Thanks to the efforts of newspapers such as The New York Times, and to the fact that former North Carolina governor Zebulon Vance represented Dula pro bonof Dula's murder trial and subsequent hanging were given widespread national publicity for the time. Further adding to the Dula legend was the fact that a local poet, Thomas C. Land, wrote a popular song about Dula's tragedy after the hanging.
A man named "Grayson," mentioned in the song as pivotal in Dula's downfall, has sometimes been characterized as a romantic rival of Dula's or a vengeful sheriff who captured him and presided over his hanging. Some variant lyrics of the song portray Grayson in that light, and the spoken introduction to the Kingston Trio version did the same. Col. James Grayson was actually a Tennessee politician who had hired Dula on his farm when the young man fled North Carolina under suspicion and was using a false name. Grayson did help North Carolinians capture Dula and was personally involved in returning him to North Carolina, but otherwise played no role in the case.
Dula was tried in Statesville. because it was believed he could not get a fair trial in Wilkes County. He was given a new trial on appeal but he was again convicted, and hanged on May 1. 1868. His alleged accomplice, Jack Keaton, was set free. On the gallows, Dula reportedly stated, "Gentlemen, do you see this hand? I didn't harm a hair on the girl's head."
Dula's last name was pronounced Dooley, leading to some confusion in spelling over the years. (The pronunciation of a final "a" like "y" is an old feature in Appalachian speech, as in the term "Grand Ole Opry".
The doleful ballad was probably first sung shortly after the execution and is still commonly sung in North Carolina. The song was selected as ore of the Songs of the Century.
In the documentary Appatechran Journey (1991), Alan Lomax describes Frank Proffitt as the "original source" for the song, It is unclear exactly what LomaK means by this but, since it seems that the song predates Frank Proffitt's early version, it is likely that Lomax means that Proffitt's version is the one that has become most well known to us because the Kingston Trio derived their interpretation from Proffitt's. Certainly, there is an earlier known recording by Grayson and Whitter made in 1929, approximately ten years before Proffitt cut his own recording of the song.
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
Met her on the mountain, stabbed her with my knife
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry (ah-uh-eye)
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die
This time tomorrow,
reckon where I'll be
Hadn't-a been for Grayson,
I'd-a been in Tennessee (well now, boy)
Hang down (your head) your head (Dooley} and cry
Hang down your head and cry (ah poor boy, ah well-ah}
Hang down (your head) your head (Dooley) and cry
Poor boy, you're bound to die (ah well now boy)
Hang down (your head) your head (Dooley) and cry
Hang down your head and cry (ah poor boy, ah well-ah)
Hang down (your head) your head (Dooley) and cry
Poor boy, you're bound to die
This time tomorrow,
reckon where I'll be
Down in some lonesome valley
hangin' from a white oak tree
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry (ah-uh-eye)
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die (ah well now boy)
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry (poor boy ah well uh)
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die
Poor boy, you're bound to die
Poor boy, you're bound to die
Poor boy, you're bound to .......die
04/03/03 at 04:20 PM
Angel71242
Laurie -that's nice you put all that information in here but you could make your life a heck of a lot easier if you would post a link instead of typing/copying/pasting, Just trying to help,
04/08/08 at 09:06 PM
doodlebug
LOL, Angel, I'm bad to do the typing/copy/pasting thing too! On my two forums, I get so used to doing it, it gets away from me on other forums, but doing the backlinks that way helps to increase your PR ranking for search engines.....(please don't ask me what that statement means, they tried to explain it, finally just gave up and told me
to do it")
Anyway, back on topic. Maria, that's it, you're just gonna have to start traveling with me when daughter has a dance competition" Ever competition, I usually have hours of "nothing" time and just drive around to see if I can find anything. Do you know how many times I've driven past that jail in downtown Wilkesboro and just vaguely noticed the sign? Never occurred to me to stop....now I'm jealous, what a great place" Kind of reminds me of some of the Old West areas where they've preserved jail cells and residences of notorious characters.
04/09/O8 at 05:55 AM
Maria
I was amazed at how nice the jail cells were back then in Wilkesboro. In this jail the cells were quite large and well furnished and attractive, for a jail cell housing a murderer. And only one inmate to a cell. I have been to other old timey jails from back when in St. Augustine, Florida, Mt. Airyp Washington D.C. and Tennessee and believe mep the one in Wilkesboro is fancy in comparison. Of course as our guide tour Diane told us yesterday, it was dark in the cells and vey cold which though it looked comfortable, it was not. Add to that the lonliness, the lack of anything to do with your time, and the worry and fear of your impending execution, it was/is not a place I would want to be in, even if the rent is free. Of the several old jails from that time period that I have visited, the one that was the worst looking one and the scariest looking was the one in Mt. Airy. It gave me the shakes. It truly did alter my mood and disposition while I was touring it. but the worst one in the country, which ever one it isp is nothing in comparison to what the jailsp or as they were called Dungeons, were like in England. You do not want to go there.
04/09/O8 at O8:32 AM
Maria
I found this photo of Tom dooley's grave that I really like. I wish it were larger so we could see it better. Laura Foster is the girl Tom murdered.
04/09/O8 at 09:03 AM
Angel71242
Awesome pics Maria" (As always") I really like the head jailer's family living quarters'" It looks like they were well off what with having that beautiful grandfather clock and a baby grand piano. I also love the photo of the window in Tom Dooley's cell, the one with the lantern in the window. And you inside the jail cell looking out!!!!!!!!!!
04/09/O8 at 09:27 AM
sissy2
You get to go to the coolest places. Love the pictures. They should have thrown away the key when they stuck u in
jail!!!
04/09/08 at 09:41 AM
Maria
The tour guide Diane had the cell key in her hand after she locked me in and she grinned at me and turned and walked away as if she were leaving. I hate to show this photo of me because I look terrible but when Diane acted like she was going to leave me locked in there I went to hollering at the top of my lungs and Susan snatched this awful photo of me screaming HELP COME BACK HERE WITH THAT KEY. I'M CALLING SECURITY!!
D04/09/O8 at 10:10 AM
Angel71242
LOL!!! That picture is toooo funny!!!
04/09/08 at 05:57PM
Michael818
There is much evidence that Tom Dula was innocent of this crime. His so-called "confession" was simply a ploy to keep his beloved Ann Melton from the hangman's noose, And it worked.
Most now concede that if the case were in the present court system, Dula would most likely have never gone to trial on the flimsy evidence that the law had. A movement to pardon Tom began in the eaqrly 90's,
Most people in the area now believe that Ann Melton committed the crime, or her cousin, Pauline Foster, or both, Tom is rarely included as an active participant, though he may have known about it later, or even stumbled upon it. I have been in contact with Mrs. Wheeling Reynolds, the author of the play, and with the museum devoted to the Dula Legend in Happy Valley (the name of the valley, not a town).
When I was researching this story for my book, I went up to the area, and was granted unprecedented access at the time, A "sensitive" who was with me wasn't told anything about where we were going, and I was careful to avoid the signs as much as possible, She MAY have seen one, but I don't think she had enough time to read as I drove by,
This woman said she felt the presence of a girl named Laurie (Laura is sometimes pronounced that way by hillfolk). She felt this woman had died violently on the hillside there, and that the last face she saw was a WOMAN with raven black hair (Ann had such). But she wasn't clear if this was the killer or not. Said the SPIRIT wasn't sure, which leads me to believe Laura Foster was fallen upon from behind.
Anyway, though history says he was, I am not convinced that Tom Dula was a murderer.
PS; COOL pics, Mariai
Michael R.
04/11/08 at 09:41 AM
Maria
A friend and I are going to the town of Ferguson on Monday, the 14th to tour the Tom Dooley Museum and visit his grave as well. There's a lot more to see at the museum about Tom Dooley than there was at the jail where he was incarcerated, although I did enjoy the tour at the jail. I'm really looking forward to the museum about him and seeing where he is buried.
04/11/08 at 05:02 PM
Michael818
Whaaaa! I wanna go! Have to work. Blast it! Get some good pics! And, I THINK they have my book up there at Whiporwill Academy, Maria. I talked to the lady a while back, and she ordered some. Tell her hello! Never got to actually MEET her!
Michael R.
04/14/O8 at 09:04 AM
Maria
I'll be gone all day today..going to visit the Tom Dooley museum. So keep an eye on things in here for me Angel.
04/14/O8 at 09:06 AM
Angel71242
No problem! i just wish I could go too.................
