Some early versions, 1909-1951:

UNCLE EPHRAIM GOT THE COON

From Mississippi blacks, reported by E.C. Perrow, "Songs and Rhymes From the South," from Journal of Am Folklore 1912-15.

As I was coming through my field,
A black snake bit me on de heel,
Dey carried me home, and laid me on de bed,
De ole folks say, Dat nigger is dead,

CHO
Uncle Eph'm got de coon and gone on,
Gone on, gone on,
Uncle Eph'm got de coon and gone on,
And left me watching up de tree.

What kind of shoes did de angels wear,
Slipping and sliding through the air?
A great big shoe and a gov'mint sox,
Just drap all de money in de missionary box.

BRUDDUH EPHUM

Sung to me by Ben C. Moomaw, Roanoke, Va 1954. From Virginia Folklore Society collecting, probably c. 1930s.

Cho:
Brudduh Ephum got a coon an' a-gone on (3)
An' lef' me lookin' up a tree.

Massa bought a yaller gal,
He fetched her from the south,
She wo' her hair tied back so tight
That the sun shined in her mouth.

Took dat gal to de blacksmith snop,
For to have her mouth made small,
She fell in love wid de blacksmith fence,
She swallowed the shop and all.

The song became a high-powered country-pop tune in the 1930s when the Prairie Ramblers (Patsy Montana's backup band and one of the best "eastern swing" groups) performed it as "Uncle Eph's Got the Coon." It's similar to Art Thieme's version, but adds a last verse:

Ol' Uncle Eph was a good ol' soul,
Washed his face in the butterbowl,
Bumped his head on the mantelpiece,
An' set right back in the bucket o'grease.

The song was introduced to the northern folksong community via recording and concerts c. 1951 by Philadelphia folksinger Tom Glazer (in his more serious days, pre-On Top of Spaghetti) as:

UNCLE REUBEN

Cho:
Uncle Reuben got a coon gone gone, chk-a-chk,
Done gone, chk-a-chk, done gone, chk-a-chk,
Uncle Reuben got a coon done gone, chk-a-chk,
And left me here behind.

Possum up a 'simmon tree,
Raccoon on the ground,
Raccoon say, Mister Possum,
Won't you shake one 'simmon down?

If you love me, Liza Jane,
Place your hand in mine,
You won't lack for no cornbread
As long as the sun do shine.