This old murder ballad, which describes the killing of a woman whose name was actually Lillie Shaw, appeared on the same New World release as "Come All Ye Coal Miners." The liner notes from that release indicate that Lilly Shaw was murdered in October 1903, by Finley Preston of Saw Mill Creek, TN as a consequence of a sexual triangle. Preston was convicted, and was hanged in November, 1905. This old murder ballad was recorded for the Library of Congress by sisters Mrs. Lena Bare Turbyfill and Mrs. Lloyd Bare Hagie in April 1939 in Elk Park, NC by Herbert Halpert. The liner notes say "Mrs. Turbyfill and her sister, Mrs. Hagie, learned the song as teenagers from their sister Sabra, who learned it from a Tennessean named Glenn Crosswhite about 1913.... As the "Ballad of Finley Preston," this song is still sung in eastern Tennessee, and appears performed by Clint Howard and Fred Price on an LP, The Ballad of Finley Preston (Rounder 0009)."
Found that at https://www.factorybelt.net/covers_released.htm