4
July 1812 A.D. John
Jasper: The Unmatched Negro Philosopher and Preacher
William E. Hatcher (William Eldridge), 1834-1912
John Jasper: The Unmatched Negro Philosopher and
Preacher
New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, c1908.
Summary
John Jasper (1812-1901) was a former
slave and, for fifty years, a prominent Virginia preacher. He was the youngest
of 24 children born to Nina and Phillip Jasper on the Peachy Plantation in
Williamsburg, Virginia. John's father was also a well known preacher, so he
grew up in the shadow of his father's reputation even though Phillip died two
months before Joh-n's birth. While working on a tobacco plantation, John Jasper
had a major conversion experience and his master encouraged him to share it
with everyone, so he spent his life spreading the good news of Christianity.
Jasper married, but when he was sold away the day after their marriage and his
wife married another man with permission from Jasper. Jasper later married a
second wife, Candus Jordan, and they had nine children together. During this
time, he preached throughout Southern Virginia. He was the founder of the 6th
Mount Zion Baptist Church, where he preached until his death.
Reverend William Eldridge Hatcher
(1834-1912) graduated from Richmond College in 1858 with a Bachelor of Arts
degree. In addition to significant involvement in religious movements, he
helped found the Philologian Literary Society. Hatcher was also granted
multiple honorary degrees from Denison University, Colgate University, and
Richmond, where he served on the College's Board of Trustees for 42 years.
During that time he served as a Pastor at a number of Churches and was a
minister for the Mt. Herman Baptist Church in Virginia. When Hatcher's
landlady's son begged Hatcher to accompany him on a trip to see Jasper preach,
Hatcher first "felt the mastery and the subduing sovereignty of the
man" (p. 157). Hatcher wrote many books besides John Jasper:The Unmatched Negro Philosopher and Preacher, including Life of J. B. Jeter, Along
the Trail of the Friendly Years, and The Pastor and the Sunday School.
Hatcher begins his biography of Jasper
by noting that "He was one of a class,--without pedigree, and really
without successors, except that he was so dominant and infectious that numbers
of people affected his ways and dreamed that they were one of his sort"
(p. 7). Jasper was just one of twenty four
children, and one of the many slaves working on Mr. Peachy's plantation, but he
was also unique in that he felt called of God to preach the word. Hatcher
claims that Jasper was the "last of his type, and we shall not look upon
his like again" (p. 15). This biography does not provide a
complete chronology of Jasper's life, consisting instead of a few "vagrant
articles which find their kinship only in the fact that they present some distinct
view of a man" (p. 15).
After a brief chapter on Jasper's
childhood and family, Hatcher introduces Jasper by way of the conversion
experience which is a turning point in Jasper's life. Jasper believed that
"God had put him into the ministry" and called him in a manner that
was "so reverential, so full of noble assertion and so irresistibly
eloquent . . . that even his most sceptical critics were constrained
to admit that, like John the Baptist, he was 'a man sent from God'" (p. 23-24). Hatcher presents Jasper's conversion
narrative and sermons in dialect rather than in standardized English, giving
insight into what it might feel like to hear Jasper tell his story in person.
Jasper was looking for religious
certainty when God moved him. One particularly difficult morning, as he was
stemming tobacco and feeling particularly depressed, "de light broke; I
was light as a feather; my feet was on de mount'n; salvation rol'd like a flood
thru my soul, an' I felt as if I could 'nock off de fact'ry roof wid my shouts'
(p. 25). He was so excited that he could not
hold it in and he was taken to the master of the plantation, who instructed
him, in Jasper's words, "Aft'r you git thru tellin' it here at de fact'ry,
go up to de house, an' tell your folks; go roun' to your neighbours, an' tell
dem; go enywhere you wan' to, an' tell de good news" (p. 28). It was this instruction that allowed
Jasper to preach in the manner that he did. Slaves were not generally allowed
to preach, a restriction which constrained the ministry of Jasper's father. But
with his master's approval, Jasper preached often to his fellow slaves.
Hatcher believes that "It is as a
preacher that John Jasper is most interesting," (p. 36) so he concentrates his efforts on
Jasper and the pulpit. As the first 25 years of Jasper's ministry took place
before slavery was abolished, he was limited to preaching at funerals. But
slave funerals were a "pageant" (p. 37) that came from the traditions of
African beliefs and ceremonies and this is where Jasper thrived. "Jasper
was a master from the outset at this work," (p. 38) and was called to officiate at slave
funerals throughout the surrounding country.
Though Hatcher only heard a single
sermon by Jasper, he spoke to many witnesses of other sermons and includes
their commentary on Jasper in his biography. The testimony of Virginia Adams,
like others, is included as "simply the unmethodical testimony of a
sensible woman, bearing about it the marks of sincerity, intelligence, and
reverential affection" (p. 76). As a means of presenting Jasper's
essence directly to the audience, Hatcher chooses to present reproductions of
Jasper's preaching in a manner that captures the non-standard aspects of his colloquial
speech. Among the sermons that Hatcher included in his biography were
selections titled "whar sin kim frum?"(p. 47) and "dem sebum wimmin"(p. 89).
The conclusion that Hatcher comes to is
that Jasper was a "Valiant, heroic old man! He stood in his place and was
not afraid. He gave his message in no uncertain words--scourged error wherever
it exposed its front stood sentinel over the word of God and was never caught
sleeping at his post" (p. 182). Jasper's conviction and faith is
evidenced through the multiple visions we are given of this great man's
conversion, his preaching, and his ministering to those in need.
Works Consulted: "History of the University of Richmond: People," UR History Home, accessed 12 Nov. 2011; Hatcher,
"William E. Hatcher, D. D., LL. D., L. H. D.: a biography, Volume 4,"
WC printing, Richmond Virginia, 1918; Eldridge Burwell, Moran, Jeffrey R.,
"The Scopes Trial and Southern Fundamentalism in Black and White: Race, Region,
and Religion," The Journal of Southern History,
Vol. 70, No. 1 (Feb., 2004), pp. 95-120; Randolph, Edwin Archer, "The life
of Rev. John Jasper, pastor of Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist church, Richmond, VA:
from his birth to the present time, with his theory on the rotation of the
sun," R.T. Hill & Co., 1884.
Laura Benning
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