Where does the phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" actually come from?

If there is one phrase you hear ad nauseam as a reporter who covers poverty, it is definitely some variant of "pull yourself up by your bootstraps."

Of course it's used as part of the origin story to explain how any number of families from humble beginnings now experience success several generations later....
http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/where-does-phrase-pull-yourself-your-bootstraps-actually-come