The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny or also known as the Ballad of Frankie Silver was written about a couple in western North Carolina, Burnsville area (not far from the Asheville area in the NC mountains). The real couple was Francis and Charles Silver. Francis or better known as Frankie was abused and mistreated, beaten. She finally had enough and killed Charles. The town  hung her for murder. However, when asked for her last words, her father told her to take it to her grave, and she did. She was the first woman hung in North Carolina  and the last person hung.