My last post reminded me of something, John. How much is known about oral versions of the legend which were NOT sung as songs? In other words, we're all naturally interested in any account that purports to be firsthand or secondhand. But what about people who just said "Oh, yeah, I know about John Henry..." and proceeded to tell a story without any claim to have known him personally? Those versions could fill in the gaps between Lawson and Spencer, for example, by showing whether the "east end of the tunnel" was a traditional oral motif. Unfortunately, I don't know the collections well enough to know where these are, but you might know where to look.