Tom Dooley

Tom Dula, pronounced "Dooley," known far and wide for the ballad, Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley was a real person. He was born in 1845 in Elkville, NC, now Ferguson, Wilkes County. He was the son of Thomas and Mary Keaton Dula and was known to be handsome, gifted with the fiddle, and a delight to the ladies. Tom enjoyed the company of the ladies, especially Ann Foster, who later married James Melton. He played for the local square dances and was a very popular young man around the community. When the War Between The States, known as the civil War, broke out, Tom enlisted at Elkville when he was only 17 years old. As a private, he served as regiment musician for four years. Toward the end of the war, he was captured and taken to Point Lookout, Maryland as a prisoner of war. When he was released he came home and resumed his life here in the valley. He not only resumed his life, but he resumed his relationship with Ann Melton...