"Captain" M. J. Bonner (1847-1939) was a Confederate veteran and a prominent Texas fiddler on early radio. (Fifty-three in 1900, he may have attended one of those old fiddlers' contests reported above.)

In 1925 Bonner recorded four fiddle tunes for Victor (too bad he didn't do more!):

Dusty Miller
Ma Ferguson
Yearling's in the Canebrake
Gal on a Log (mentioned above, sounds much like "Paddy on the Hand Car")

"Ma Ferguson" was Bonner's topical title for a tune usually called "Old Dubuque." ("Ma" was the first woman governor of Texas, elected in 1925.)

It seems likely that Bonner had known all these tunes in 1900 and may well have learned them during or before the Civil War. If nothing else, his fiddling style should date back to ca1855-60.