The text and the idea have been around since well before the War Between the States. I forget the name of the person who adapted it to music, but a duo named Lonzo and Oscar got a lot of air play with the song in the late 'forties. Mark Twain used it in some of his platform lectures, using the title "Whereby It May Be Demonstrated That A Man Might Become His Own Grandfather." As a spoken piece if has been in the oral tradition for many many years.