Things are becoming even more interesting. John, is there a single collected version of "John Henry" that seems to combine several of your elements, or two or three texts from Alabama, Georgia, or Mississippi that combine to give the picture you develop?

If "between the mountains," "Cap'n Tommy," "buried him in the sand," "took him to the white house" showed up in a cluster, the case would move from "conceivable" to "very likely." You see what I'm saying.

- JL

The version collected by J. J. Niles contains both the "man in Chattanooga" and the "two mountains be his grave stones" lines.

Rich Amerson has "'tween them mountains."

The Blankenship broadside has John Henry's woman catching that "No. 4 train" to go "where John Henry fell dead." In 1900 IC No. 4 ran north from Crystal Springs, MS, the right start for a trip to northern Alabama. Crystal Springs was the home of Captain Dabney and, apparently, John Henry Dabney. Both C. C. Spencer and and Alabama woman interviewed in 1955 say that both Captain Dabney and John Henry were from Mississippi. The Blankenship broadside also has John Henry being buried in "that new burying ground." We don't yet know exactly when Sand Ridge Cemetery, Dunnavant, Alabama, was established.

Leon R. Harris has "John Henry's cap'n Tommy / V'ginny gave him birth" - Captain Dabney was born in Virginia. Harris also describes Captain Tommy's bet on John Henry against a steam drill in terms similar to those of C. C. Spencer. "Dinnah's done when Lucy pulls th' c'od" fits with Spencer's testimony that John Henry's wife cooked. "Sun shined hot an' burnin' / Wer'n't no breeze at-tall / Sweat ran down like watah down a hill / That day John Henry let his hammah fall" could easily be a mid-September day in Alabama (Sep 20, according to Spencer).

Onah L. Spencer includes "Some say he's from Alabam" (on the way to claiming John Henry for "East Virginia" and Big Bend Tunnel). Also, "women in the West...flagged that east bound train" to go "where John Henry dropped dead" - Mississippi, the Dabneys' home, is west of Alabama. "They took John Henry to the White House / And buried him in the san' / And every locomotive come roarin' by / Says there lays that steel driving man" - this verse combines "white," "san'," and the idea that John Henry's burial site could be seen from the RR.

Gid Tanner/Riley Puckett: "Took John Henry to the white house / Rolled him in the sand"

Melvin T. Harrison: "Well, they took John Henry to the new burying ground / And they covered him up in the sand"

Miss Muriel Belton/her mother: "women in the West...caught the east-bound train" to go "where John Henry fell dead."

Uncle Dave Macon: "People out West...caught that East-bound train" to go "where John Henry's dead."

William G. Parmenter: "I can make mo' money on the A. C. and L. / Than I can on the Georgia Line" - Another version, collected by Peter Brannon in Alabama, says that John Henry was on the "Central of Georgia Rail Road." Of course, these stand in contrast to the multitude of versions with "Big Bend Tunnel on the C & O Road." The relationship of "C & W" to "C & O" raises a suspicion that the former could have been the original.

Welby Toomey: "They took John Henry to the white house / And laid him in the sand"

Chicago, IL: "John Henry hammered in the mountains / Way in the north end of town" - This makes sense for Alabama if the "town" was Dunnavant. For West Virginia and Big Bend Tunnel, I don't think there is a town for which this makes much sense. Talcott and Hinton are east and west, respectively, of the tunnel.

Harvey Hicks: "John Henry died on a Tuesday" - C. C. Spencer said September 20, which was a Tuesday in 1887. "...east bound train" again. "They took John Henry to the white house / They put his remains in the sand"

J. L. McKnight: "John Henry's captain stepped on a rock / A piece of slate was falling down" - There is slate in the Dunnavant vicinity, I don't know about Big Bend. "Took young Henry to the white house / Rolled him in sand"

Sallie Flannery" "The girls in the west / When they heard of John Henry's death / They could not stay at home / 'I am going where John Henry used to roam.'"

W. S. Barnett: "They took poor Johnny to the steep hillside" - Sand Ridge Cemetery is atop a steep hillside.

Andy Anderson: "They took John Henry to the white house / And put him in the sand"

J. W. Washington: "John Henry was born in Mobile, Alabama" - I don't believe this, but here, at least, is an Alabama connection. "I can make more money on the L. and N. / Than I can on the C & O" - if "C & O" were really "C & W," this would make perfect sense, since the L & N was active in Alabama in 1887. I'm not sure whether or not the L & N had a presence near Big Bend at the time (1871) the C & O was under construction. "They carried John Henry down the smoky road / And put him on that long white road / When they brought that poor boy back to town / He was lying on his cooling board" - "smoky" from gray slate?
- "white" from sand or limestone?

C. J. Wallace: "They took John Henry to the white house / They rode him in a van" !

Tennessee Spears: "Monday morning on the east bound train / O Lord, John Henry's dead"

B. A. Hoover: "They took John Henry to the white house / And laid him in the stand" !

V. E. Gregory: "that Big Band Tunnel on the C & O Road" This
suggests another little exercise in word mutation. In Dunnavant, Oak Mountain Tunnel is the "short" tunnel, Coosa Mountain Tunnel is the "long" tunnel; Oak Mountain is the "little" mountain, Coosa Mountain is the "big" mountain. Oak Mountain gave no problem, evidently, in boring, but the completion of Coosa Tunnel was delayed by about 6 months by a layer of very hard rock, slowing drilling. Thus, Coosa Tunnel could have been "that big, bad tunnel." "big bad tunnel" -> "big band tunnel" -> "Big Bend Tunnel" This combines with "C & W" -> "C & O" !

Earl Miller: "people out west" caught that "east bound train" to go "where John Henry's dead"

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but it collects about everything I know of in ballad texts that might be interpreting to favor Alabama. Some of the discrimination is pretty weak, but there is a good bit of it. This is to be added to written testimony of C. C. Spencer (which is supported in many particulars by documentation), F. P. Barker, and Glendora Cannon Cummings, which is partially supported by Jamaican testimony about "Dabney." In addition, to this day people around Dunnavant, Alabama, will tell you that they've always heard that John Henry died there.

John