VA-F99 John Jasper

Marker text: JOHN JASPER

The Rev. John Jasper, one of the best known black preachers of the 19th century in Virginia, was born a slave in Fluvanna County on 4 July 1812. After working in a tobacco factory, Jasper had a religious awakening in the later 1830s and became a preacher. Self-educated, Jasper was renowned for his fiery oratorical style and for the sermon. "De Sun Do Move," first delivered in 1878 and preached to more than 250 audiences, including the Virginia General Assembly. He organized the Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in Richmond in 1867. Jasper died in late March 1901 and is buried in Richmond.

Department of Historic Resources, 2001