Although W. B. Stephens is generally credited as writing this song, Wikipedia has this other piece of information & says the authorship is disputed:
In 2008, a user named James Greer posted an alternative history of the song on Wikisource. He claimed that his grandfather, an itinerant preacher named W. A. Fletcher, wrote the song while travelling in the Indian Territories near the end of 1911. According to Greer, Fletcher wrote the song as a reflection of his sadness that he would not be present for the birth of his first-born child, as he felt his priorities were with his mission to the Indian Territories. J. R. Baxter was sitting next to Fletcher on the train, and was quite taken with the lyrics; he offered Fletcher $2.00 for them and then had them put to music.[5] This version of the song’s origin was copied to Wikipedia without further citation, and from there became commonly accepted across the Internet.[