Boyington Oak Festival

The play, The Truth Is in the Tree, is based on my creative nonfiction book Boyington Oak, A Grave Injustice. In 1834, unqualified jurors and circumstantial evidence determined the fate of Charles Boyington, a printer, poet, and musician. At age nineteen, he was hanged for the murder of his best friend, Nathaniel Frost. As he predicted would happen to prove his innocence, an oak tree grew from his gravesite in Mobile’s Church Street Graveyard. It still stands 186 years later.

This play was produced in 2020 at GulfQuest Museum and at Oakleigh House Museum.

This time, it will be held at Oakleigh House Museum and will include the play, a trolley tour, a tour of Oakleigh, and an autographed book. The Battle House Renaissance Hotel is also offering a package including a night’s stay. More details are on the flyers which can be accessed at www.maryspalmer.com.

The Boyington Oak Society, with the help of Historic Mobile Preservation Society, obtained a grant from the William Pomeroy Foundation and replaced a marker missing from Boyington’s gravesite since 1971. In addition, the Society currently is seeking a posthumous pardon with pro-tem Victor Gaston’s help in amending a law (See HB421).

Please contact Mary S. Palmer at 251-661-4194 if you have any questions.