I looked up the North Country Blues, sort of does sound like Wreck/Derry. I also found a post mentioning that NCB and an Australian folk song called "The Miner" shared melodies. I looked that one up as well, though to me it sounds more along the lines of Spancil Hill. Though SH could probably be sung to the tune of Wreck/Derry too.
TM seems to have been collected as early as the late 1950's, so that's quite some time before Wreck/Derry.
Here's the thread thing mentioning The Miner, along with NCB and Wreck:
http://rec.music.dylan.narkive.com/cVrRwRxJ/north-country-blues-the-wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald