Here is a very old recipe from a cookbook in my collection. The book was published in 1916.

This is the original:

Spread in two pans.

Melt 1 cup sugar and ½ cup butter; cinnamon to taste, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 large cup pecans (halved). Pour over the cake batter and bake.

Not much to go on, so here is the way I made it. I think next time I will just put the sugar-pecan mixture right in the bottom of the pan, it ends up there anyway.

For topping:

For Cake:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch cake pans and set aside.

For the topping: In a small sauce pan or microwaveable bowl place the sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Add the butter and heat to melt the butter, stirring as needed. Stir in the vanilla and set aside to cool.

For the Cake: Into a medium bowl place the 2 cups cake flour. Using a whisk, stir in the baking powder and set aside. Place the room temperature butter into a large mixing bowl and start to beat with an electric hand mixer. Add the sugar a little at a time and blend thoroughly. Continue mixing and add one egg at a time, mixing well as you go. Add the lemon rind and vanilla. Now mix in a third of the flour, then half the milk, then another third of the flour and the rest of the milk and last the rest of the flour, mixing well after each addition. Pour batter into prepared pans dividing evenly. Spread batter evenly in the pan. Pour the pecan mixture over the batter in each pan. Gently spread the sugar and nuts over the top.

Place layers into preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a rack enough to handle and invert onto a plate to serve warm.