Brian Peters;

Regarding going through Sharp's Appalachian collections.
Have you checked out the books on Cecil Sharp by Mike Yates, who just happens to have posted above on this thread? They could possibly answer your queries.
Apart from having access to Sharp's papers and diaries Mike followed in Sharp's footsteps and has issued some excellent recordings that he made himself of singers and musicians (including the Hicks on Beech Mountain)there in the eighties.

Hoot