This song is from Vermont, or probably Georgia1. At the very least it was recorded in vermont, and then..dropped off the radar again. I Wouldn't have heard of it if not for Anna and Elizabeth . The earliest version I can find is from 1962 -- Margaret MacArthur might have been the first person to record the song, as sung by Hildreth Brown. 

 

Mother in the graveyard

and I'm on the land,

Look for me.

Mother in the graveyard,

and I'm on the land,

 

Refrain: And I want God's bosom 

To be my pillow,

Hide me over in the rocks of ages,

Look for me.

 

I am climbing Jacob's ladder,

Look for me.

I am Climbing Jacob's ladder,

 

Refrain

 

See brother Peter when you get to the kingdom,

Look for me.

See brother Peter when you get to the kingdom,

 

Refrain

 

Ride that chariot to my door,

Look for me.

Ride that chariot to my door,

 

Refrain

 

Mother in the graveyard,

And I'm on the land,

Look for me.

Mother in the grayard,

And I'm on the land,

 

Refrain

 


 

1. the song is supposed to be a product of Vermont, but there's a page on the interwebs saying that the song isn't from vermont at all -- apprently the liner notes for the Smithsonian Folkways album say that Hildreth is singing stuff she got from her aunt, who got it from slaves from the Flint River Plantation in Georgia. Or their grandchildren, more  likely.