This is an amazing question with loads of possible answers - Abner Doubleday, or that Georgia train that made the first run from the west coast of FL to the Gulf Coast that was named Abner something or other and might have lost a brake shoe, maybe an Old Horse named Abner that threw a shoe, or as Jamie said - an old slave.

When I contacted Bobby Horton who helped make the song famous and found out he didn't know, I knew we were faced with a real mystery.

Was Tennessee Ernie Ford the first to sing the song, followed by Bobby Horton? Who composed the song - Ernie Ford?