Useful link, Peace. It gave me the date of this Leadbelly version that guest Gene is looking for (the first by him, 1934) and the list of all the tracks on that 1934(-1949) recording, "Death Letter Blues," which is impossible to find. A later box set "Important Recordings 1934-1949" should (I hope!) have that same track.

Lomax recorded it on vinyl in 1934, says the note at allmusic.com. Lomax used a different version, unattributed, in his "American Ballads and Folk Songs," 1934. The book probably was already issued by the time Lomax met Leadbelly at Angola in 1934.

First records of the song are from the 1920s, but there is speculation that it is older. I hope mudcatters will post lyrics of some of the recordings pre-dating Leadbelly.

See thread 72889 for some posts that may or may not be helpful. Midnight Special