Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? is by Rev. George Beebe and H.E. McAfee circa 1900. This song is now the name of the definitive biography about the Carters, Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone by Marc Mark Zwonitzer and Charles Hirshberg.

The Carters recorded the song twice- first in 1928 and again in 1935 after A.P. and Sara separated. The Carters kept recording and occasionally performing together until 1943 when Sara moved to California to live with her new husband Coy Bays. Without Maybelle and her family carrying on the Carter tradition in the 1940s the music of the Carters might have been largely forgotten. A.P. moved back to Poor Valley and ran a small grocery store in relative obscurity, he tried in vain to resurrect the group but Original Carter Family never recorded again. They left a wealth of musical treasures behind as their legacy. I never knew them, but I do miss them.

WILL YOU MISS ME- Carter Family 1928 and 1935

          When death shall close these eyelids
          And this heart shall cease to beat
          And they lay me down to rest
          In some flowery bowery tree
               
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me when I'm gone

          Perhaps you'll plant a flower
          On my poor, unworthy grave
          Come and sit along beside me
          When the roses nod and wave

               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me when I'm gone

          One sweet thought my soul shall cherish
          When this fleeting life has flown
          This sweet thought will cheer when dying
          Will you miss me when I'm gone

          When these lips shall never more
          Plant a kiss upon thy brow
          But lie cold and still in death
          Will you love me then as now

               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me (miss me when I'm gone)
               Will you miss me when I'm gone