Gee, that's an interesting question, Cathleen. You'll see that I've combined this thread with earlier ones and added crosslinks to our other threads on the song up above. Take a look through them.

Here's what the Traditional Ballad Index says about this song:

Another Man Done Gone

DESCRIPTION: "Another man done gone... from the county farm.... I didn't know his name.... He had a long chain on.... He killed another man.... I don't know where he's gone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (recording, Vera Hall)
KEYWORDS: prison escape homicide
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 307-309, "Another Man Done Gone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 95, "Another Man Done Gone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax- FSNA 288, Another Man Done Gone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 67, "Another Man Done Gone" (1 text)
Roud #10065
RECORDINGS:
Vera Hall, "Another Man Done Gone" (AFS 4049 A4, 4049 B, 1940; on LCTreas, LC04)
Pete Seeger, "Another Man Done Gone" (on PeteSeeger05) (on PeteSeeger27)
Willie Turner, "Now Your Man Done Gone" (on NFMAla1)
File: LxU095

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2016 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

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Here are the lyrics we have in our Digital Tradition Folk Song Database:

ANOTHER MAN DONE GONE

Another man done gone
Another man done gone
From the County Farm
Another man done gone

I didn't know his name (4x)

He had a long chain on (4x)

He killed another man (4x)

I don't know where he's gone (4x)

I'm gonna walk your log (4x)

From the singing by Vera Hall,
recorded by John A. Lomax in Livingston, Alabama, October 31, 1940
on the recording A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings
Selected and Annotated by Stephen Wade, Rounder CD 1500 (1997)

filename[ DONEGONE
CB
Feb07

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And here is a link to at least some of the recordings Alan Lomax made of Vera Ward Hall singing this song:

http://research.culturalequity.org/get-audio-ix.do?ix=recording&id=10501&idType=sessionId&sortBy=abc.

So, as far as is generally known, Vera Ward Hall is the sole source of this song, and Alan Lomax is the one who recorded her singing it.

In The Folk Songs of North America (1960)[soing No. 288, page 539], Alan Lomax says "Another Man Done Gone" was adapted and arranged from the singing of Vera Hall and Rich Amerson, Livingstone Alabama, by J. Lomax, A. Lomax, and R.P. Tartt.

It's also in Best Loved American Folk Songs (Folk Song U.S.A.) by John and Alan Lomax, Song No. 95 (pp 326-327). But note that the song was recorded in 1940 on AFS 4049 A4, 4049 B, 1940 - for the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Song (AFS). So, does the fact that the Lomaxes recorded the song under the auspices of the Library of Congress, give them rights to the song. I think not.
If anyone has rights to the song, it would be Vera Ward Hall - but she could have passed those rights on to another party.

BUT when I'm getting recording licenses for people in the U.S., the first place I go is to the Harry Fox Agency (HFA), which administers most song copyrights in the U.S. HFA';s Songfile.com (click) service says the song belongs to Ludlow Music, which controls the rights to many of the songs collected by the Lomaxes Way Back When. Those who want to license the song for recording, can do so through the Harry Fox Agency - just click on the Songfile link.

So, this one was easy, because the song is listed with HFA. We've had long discussions about the morality of the Lomaxes and their successors and who should have the rights to the songs, but I just go to the Harry Fox Agency and let the lawyers fight about the rights.

So, the short answer is that the song is owned by Ludlow Music and recording licenses are available from the Harry Fox Agency, songfile.com

-Joe Offer (email sent to Cathleen)-