About Tom Dula
Thomas C. Dula (June 23‚ 1844 – May 1, 1868) was a former Confederate soldier who was convicted of murdering Laura Foster. National publicity from newspapers such as The New York Times turned Dula's story into a folk legend. Although Laura was murdered in Wilkes County, North Carolina, Dula was tried, convicted, and hanged in Statesville. Considerable controversy surrounded the case. In subsequent years, a folk song was written (entitled "Tom Dooley", based on the pronunciation in the local dialect), and many oral traditions were passed down about the circumstances surrounding Foster's murder and Dula's subsequent execution. The Kingston Trio recorded a hit version of the murder ballad in 1958. The Trio had taken the song, without acknowledgement, from the singing of singer and folklorist Frank Warner, who had learned it from Frank Proffitt, a preserver of traditional culture, during one of the many singing and song-sharing sessions he and his folklorist spouse Ann had enjoyed at the Proffitt and Hicks homes in North Carolina. Frank Proffitt had learned the song, among many others, from his aunt Nancy Prather, whose parents had known Tom, Laura Foster, and Ann Foster. A court case, brought by Frank Warner on Frank Proffitt's behalf, settled the matter of "ownership" of the song in the latter's favor, and he received royalties from the Trio's and other performances of the song. Tom Dula was born to a poor Appalachian hill-country family in Wilkes County, North Carolina, most likely the youngest of three brothers, with one younger sister, Eliza. However, the local doctor testified he had treated both Dula and Anne for syphilis (using blue mass), as he also had Pauline Foster, who in fact was the first to be treated. Folklore has it that Laura became pregnant, and that she and Dula had decided to elope. After the murder he stopped at the home of his relative Thomas Dula, a site that became Dula Springs Hotel.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.