Reference for 1888 "Careless Love", Handy?

He was 13 at that time and not into blues, which first came into his life after he joined the minstrels in 1896. His family would not have known anything approaching 'blues' as generally defined. No verses typical of the song were recorded until 1909 (Perrow); of course collected versus first occurrence is not the same, but the latter is often hearsay.

There were older songs with the title but were typical popular white laments.

Generally considered, the 'blues' were from the lower class Blacks and not recognized by 'straight', church-going members. As a result the early record (1890-1920) is sparse until they became a fad, as Odum and Johnson said, in the 1920s. They were closely associated with the Blacks changing status, migration, and conflicts, as Johnson, Oliver and others have written.

Some sort of definition is needed, but Richie has given some good examples to start with.