The pencil Ms. in the Piper Coll. was noted in a previous post (John Garst also has a copy), but verification of the date of the MS. is still lacking. The copy could have been made at a much later date and is from someone's recollection.
"Lady in Love," with a date of 1889, is the earliest verified dating, but Garst found it in a volume of collected songs, so it probably is older than that date.

The origin is still uncertain.