Marc, I should have said it is very plausible that the song originated in the rural industrial region of North Carolina (or southern Virginia) instead of 'very likely.'   It could have originated in New England or the Northeast and made it's way to the hill country in the process of attempts at union organizing, which, I believe was going on pretty strongly in the mining regions of WV, and Virginia and in the textile mills of Virginia and North Carolina. Kelly Harrell was a textile worker and very like encountered union organizers in the 1920's.

But the lyrics of the song sound a bit pre-union to me.