Definition of "jedge"

But he a'n't no singin'-master—not of I'm any jedge of turnips.

1872, Edward Eggleston, The End Of The World

"I ain't no great of a jedge about anything but nat'ralness of books, and it really does seem as if some of your men and women was dreadful uncomfortable creaters.

1882, Louisa May Alcott, Kitty's Class Day And Other Stories

"De ole jedge has be'n a little onreg'lar sence de wah, suh […]"

1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […]

"Heap of it, sir," replied the overseer, taking off his cap. "It was that fine yaller lady there that made most of it. She's the one that's a-fomintin' trouble right along. She's a quiet lookin' gal, but she ain't. It's all right what the jedge says to me, but I'm goin' to have a little settlement with this fine lady myself, this time."

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter VII, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company

There ain't nobody reported missin' in this county as we know of, either; so I jedge a verdict of a unknown person dead from unknown causes would be about the correct thing.

1913, Irvin S. Cobb, The Escape of Mr. Trimm‎