I've recently come across a reference to another possible relative of "Jim Along Josey"; thought I'd plug it into this old thread if that's OK.

Well, "Haul Away Joe"/"Haul Away for Rosie" is one of the best known chanteys. I'd never felt that much one way or the other what its source might be. Anyway, JG Jewell, in AMONG OUR SAILORS (1974), wrote about sailor "songs"--apparently, although we do have references back to the 1850s (about events of 1840s), the term "chantey" was not in so wide a use yet. He writes:

//
When hauling taut the weather main-brace they sing a perversion of the old negro melody, "Hey Jim along, Jim along, Josey!" but the sailors put it—
"Way, haul away—haul away, Josey—
Way, haul away—haul away, Joe!"
//

I'd not come across that connection made in print before. ( I know Doerflinger (in his revised text of SONGS OF SAILOR AND LUMBERMAN) consulted Jewell, but there is a gap in his notes to "Haul Away Joe." ) It sounds like a reasonable relationship to me though; wonder what others think.

Gibb