flx...Slave 3tories (Geo. Bri~ggs)
Pace 2
4‘
I
8i~
.~‘iOW dat‘s je~‘ Ler your own 1i~ht arid kriovvledge, ari~~ not to be	;j~:

wrote down. He was de blacksmith fer all de Cross Keys section, and fer dat very thing he got de name by everybody, ‘Black Jesse‘. S I ailus ‘Ion~ed to d:~t iriari and he was de kindest ~nan v~hat de countryside had knovv1ed~~e of.

	‘tIn Union County is whar I ~as boni arid raised, and it‘s vchar I is gwirie to be buried. Ain‘t r~ever left de county but once in ~y life, arid if de Lawd ~ee i~itten, Ï ain‘t swine to leave it rio mo‘, ‘cept to reach de Promise Land. Lawd,‘Lawd.‘ De Promise iand, dat‘s vv~ar I is gv~ine ~nhen I leaves Union County. Dey carried me a hundred miles to cure a sick vio~i1an, onliest tiri~e 1 ever left Union County. I loves it and I is fit throu8hout arid enduring de time dem Yankees tried to ~it de county, to save it. ‘~%hat is I gwine to leave it fer? Mr. ?errin and all de white folks is good to me since my marse done gone and left his earthly home. And he is waitirx~ up dar vvid Missie to see inc a~in. Dat I ~s sho of.

	.	‘tListen brother, de Lawd is setting on His throne in Glory1 He hear every word dat I gwirie to tell you. Poiks Lergits dat when dey talks real often sometimes, don‘t dey? I put my hand on any ‘flux‘ man or woman and removes de pain, 1± dey have faith in my hand. I don‘t tell nothing but de truth. I was born on Gist Brig~s‘ plantation in Union County, in de lov~er section of Cross Keys. Marse Sexton and all dem good folks in lower Keys says dat I sho is 88. Give my name right flat, it‘s George Briggs; giving it round, it like dis, George McDuffie Briggs. L~y papa‘s name was Ike fllburn,*and my mother‘s name was Margaret Briggs. Pa ‘longed to Marse Lige Wilburn. Mama ‘longed to Jesse (Black Jesse) Briggs. Dey both born and raised in Union County. Dese was my brothers and. sisters, corning in de order dey was born to my parents in: Charlie, Dave, Aaron, Tom, Noah~