Turtle Old Man-

Here's more info. It's not clear if this was in the African- American tradition before 1838, which is the date I have for "Jim Along Josie," or the song became part of the tradition after becoming popular.

From Slave Dance Songs (on-line):
"Jim-Along-Josey" appears have been a popular dance song among enslaved African American in the late 19th century. Adults performed this partner dance almost the same way as square dancing is performed. A man who didn't dance called out the moves that the people had to do. A fiddle (violin) and other instruments would play the music for the dancing. The dancing would go on for a long time because the caller would remember as many verses as he could and also would make up (improvise) new verses to chant. "Jim" is a still common nickname for the male name "James". "Josey" was a common man's or woman's nickname (from "Joseph" or "Josephine"). "Josey" was also the name of an article of under clothing. "Josey" was also used as a name of this dance step. "The phrase "all the go" is like the current slang phrase "all that". They are both used to refer to something that is considered the best, or the most favorite, or something that is the done in the latest, most popular style. The sentence "the bullfrog died with the whooping cough" appears in a number of African American slavery and immediate post-slavery folk songs. The "whooping cough" is probably a reference to a disease called tuberculosis. "Jim Along Josie" is found in quite a few American folk songs books. Unfortunately, these books rarely mention the song's African American origin.

-Richie