MMario: I found "The Dying Mother" on pp. 155 - 156 of Alice Cary's book, "Poems", published in 1855, so it had been around for at least 48 years by the time it was reprinted in 1903.

The thing that has still managed to elude me is when the poem was used as the lyrics to a song, by whom was that done, and what is the full melody that was used . . . also, were the words in the song the same as the poem or were the modified to fit the tune. Most of the preceding may not be known, but possibly somewhere along the line the song may have been published, and a copy may still be extant.

Oh, the Carter Family had a song entitled "The Dying Mother" back about 1940, but I haven't found the tune & words, so I don't know if there is any connection.

I'll keep digging.   Eu