Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

I'm doing some research on the classic Stephen Foster song "Hard Times Come Again No More" published in 1855. In the song the chorus talks personifies "Hard Times" telling them: "Many days you have lingered around my cabin door, O Hard Times, come again no more."

My question: When did Hard Times become a familiar phrase to describe troubled periods in our history (like the present) and how common was it to cast them as actors on the stage of history?

Some tidbits toward an answer:
Charles Dickens wrote Hard Times during the same period but documentary evidence shows that Foster (who liked Dickens) began the song before. He also uses the phrase in "My Old Kentucky Home."

I have found "HardTime" used as a nickname for a historical figure here in Virginia from the 1830s.

Any insight? Thanks in advance for any help on this.