From American Memory:

THE DRUNKARD'S LONE CHILD.
H. De Marsan, Publisher, ... 60 Chatham Street, N. Y. [n. d.]

Out in the gloomy night sadly I roam,
I've no mother now, no friends, no home;
Nobody cares for me, no one would cry,
Even if poor little Bessie should die!
Barefoot and tired, I've wandered all day.
Asking for work--but I'm too small, they say;
On the damp ground I must now lay my head--
Father's a drunkard, and Mother is dead!

Chorus: Mother, oh! why did you leave me alone,
With no one to love me, no friends, and no home!
Dark is the night and the storm rages wild;
God! pity Bessie, the drunkard's lone child.

We were so happy--till father drank rum:
Then all our sorrows and troubles begun;
Mother grew paler, and wept every day;
Baby and I were too hungry to play--
Slowly they faded, and one summer's night
Found their sweet faces all silent and white--
And, with big tears slowly dropping, I said:
Father's a drunkard, and Mother is dead!

Chorus.

Oh! if some temperance men only could find
Poor wretched Father, and speak very kind:
If they could stop him from drinking: why, then
I would feel very happy again!
Is it too late? Men of temperance, please try:
For, little Bessie will soon starve and die:
All the day long I've been begging for bread--
Father's drunkard, and Mother is dead!

Chorus.

W.K. McNeil (Southern Folk Ballads, vol. 2, p. 173) says about "Little Bessie":

Despite its popularity and its several recordings, little of its history is known; the lyricist-composer is anonymous, and even original date of publication is unknown. It is generally thought to date from the 1860s, primarily because it is found in several songsters of that decade. Unfortunately, no author is given for these texts. A song titled "Little Bessie," published by S. Brainard & Sons, Cleveland, and attibuted to someone named Keutchman, was availabe in 1870. Possibly this is the same song but, unfortunately, this sheet music apparently no longer exists.

According to Meade et al.'s Country Music Sources (p. 263), "Little Bessie" is from:

R.S. Crandall, wds, arr. by W.T. Porter, ca. 1875.

~Masato