There are more differences here than the usual lyrical "variants" to the same melody; there are several completley different songs about the same event.

I am very famiilar with two: the John Hurt version shown above, and the Lloyd Price hit record from the late 1950s, which is about the same as the Furry Lewis version shown above and which is part of the New Orleans R&B piano tradition. I don't know the Frank Hamilton song shown above, but it must be sung to yet another melody because the verses wouldn't fit either of the two that I do know.

There's a LOT of information about the real-life event that inspired this hugely popular set of ballads, much of it conflicting. (See the various Mudcat "related threads," some of which refer to entire books on the subject.) One thing about which everyone agrees: it happened in St. Louis.