Jim, my brother Wilmer sang (still sings), "The Barefoot Boy With Boots On") quite near to the Asa Martin version but different in spots, and he sang it before we ever heard of Asa (grand man). Alan S., I think your poem was in our schoolbooks when I was very little (an age ago). Here's the original:
Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy with cheeks of tan
With thy turned-up pantaloons
And thy merry whistled tunes;
And thy red lips, redder still,
Kissed by strawberries on the hill.
In my heart I give thee joy-
I was once a barefoot boy!