There's a 1930 commercial recording of this on Columbia 15572-D, "On the Banks of a Lonely River," by Tom Darby and Jimmie Tarlton. Darby does solo vocal. His text is very similar to the other versions, though it's missing the mother's death, which leaves the song a little incomplete. He sings the verses "On the banks of a lonely river" and "Today I received a letter," and uses the "Little Bird" chorus as a third verse (half a verse, actually). In Atlanta the song was apparently getting closer to home, since Tom's Lonely River was only 1000 miles away, not 10,000.