"Honey in the Rock" is regarded by many as an African-American spiritual; most Black singers follow the style of Mamie Forehand, who sang it in 1927, but adding the word "Sweet" to the title. The song is included in the Ruby Pickins Tartt Collection of Religious Folk Songs from Sumter Co., AL, edited by Olivia and Jack Solomon ("Honey in the Rock," Mercer Univ. Press).
The verses are not the same as those of Carter or Graves; but they have the word 'brother' in common.
The song does not seem to have been in the African-American Tradition before Mamie Forehand.