Azizi, the first paragraph of the article on Irving Burgie (your link) says he cowrote "Mary's Little Boy Child." This may be where I got the information.
Other references list Jennifer Hairston as composer, including a copy of the sheet music.

Irving Burgie is an ASCAP member, all of his songs are listed there if you enter his name in the search box; "Can't Cross Over," etc. are there, but not "Mary's Boy Child."

From this, I conclude that the statement "cowrote" in the Song Writers Hall of Fame biography, first paragraph, is wrong.
The Hall of Fame site also has a list of his songs and "Mary's ..." is not listed.

I should have checked ASCAP first. Sorry for the error.

I see that he also wrote "Judy Drownded," which I had always assumed was a folk song.