This is one great thread!! I've always thought that the song dated back to the actual time of the underground RR, and from what Barry Finn said early on, I would think that was definitely true. However, McGrath of Harlow's questions made me wonder; do we really know this to be true? Could this be simply be a mistaken belief, like the story told about Washington and the cherry tree, or the tale that Lincoln was born in a log cabin?