Entries in the "Texas Handbook" regarding the Yellow Rose verse about Hood, and the 1858 sheet music (at head of this thread). offer no problems- by making selective quotes I may have distorted their intent.

I am not satisfied, however, about 1., the date assigned to the MS copy (ca. 1836), or the interpretation of it, and 2., how did the text of this MS copy come to be issued as sheet music in 1858?
The entry speculatively credits the MS to a slave because of the mis-spellings, but many Whites, as well as free Blacks, were barely literate in mid-19th c. Anyone going through letters written by the common people of the time will find many mistakes.

What is the basis for the ca. 1836 date assigned to the MS? The entry is speculative. It seems equally likely (if not more so) that the penciller of the MS was making a personal note of the song, as he had heard someone sing it, and the MS thus would belong to the time it appeared in minstrel shows (ca. 1858).
"Allegedly delivered to one E. A. Jones-" when, by whom, and who was Jones?
What could be the path of the song from a poorly writted personal MS to minstrel sheet music some 20 years later? This is difficult to visualize.

That the song became popular during the Civil War is evident from use of the tune for other Civil War songs, as well as its citation in writings by Ridley (see Lighter, above) and others.