The record before the rumor
Charles R. S. Boyington was a young printer in Mobile who was accused of murdering his roommate, Nathaniel Frost, in the 1830s. Boyington was convicted and executed, maintaining that he was innocent.
He was buried in the potter’s-field area of Church Street Graveyard.
The story people tell
The legend says Boyington predicted that an oak would grow from his heart as proof of innocence. A live oak near the grave became the Boyington Oak, and the story passed into Mobile folklore strongly enough to receive a formal Legends & Lore marker.
The tree is not just a haunted object; it is a folk verdict. The legend asks later generations to retry a murder case by looking at botany.
What actually holds up
The murder, conviction, execution, burial and tree are historical. The prophecy belongs to folklore. The claim that the conviction was unjust is part of the legend and later debate, not something the oak can settle.
That tension is why the story survives. A tree is patient. Court records are not always satisfying.
Backroads field note
The oak is part of Mobile’s historic landscape near Church Street Graveyard. Treat both tree and cemetery as protected heritage.
Atmosphere is not evidence. A reported experience stays reported, a documented event stays documented, and a gap in the record does not get filled with a better-sounding ghost.
Source ledger
Primary, institutional or high-quality local sources used to anchor the history and identify which claims are folklore.