1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Jemima Wilkinson was born on November twenty ninth, 2 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:10,240 Speaker 1: seventeen fifty two, or two hundred and seventy three years 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: ago today, on the day this podcast is publishing. She 4 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: became seriously ill in October seventeen seventy six, and after recovering, 5 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,279 Speaker 1: was known as a genderless religious and spiritual figure called 6 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: the Public Universal Friend. Our episode about all this originally 7 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: came out on June eighth, twenty twenty. Enjoy Welcome to 8 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, 9 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy be Wilson and 10 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frye. Today we are going to talk about 11 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: a religious figure, that's the Public Universal Friend, who described 12 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: himself as a genderless spirit sent by God to inhabit 13 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: the resurrected body of a woman named Jim. I'm a Wilkinson. 14 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: So the Friend has a clear place in the scope 15 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 1: of LGBTQ or queer history, but the details of their 16 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: story also mean that we need to handle their name 17 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: and pronouns a little differently than we have done in 18 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: other episodes of the show. We've generally tried to take 19 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: our cues on names and pronouns from our subjects themselves, 20 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: so sticking as much as we can to what they 21 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: used in their own lives. And when we've talked about 22 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: people who have experienced something that we might describe as 23 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: a gender transition, even if the idea of transitioning had 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: not really evolved yet, we've stuck to their post transition 25 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: name and pronouns. The basic idea is that's who they 26 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: were the whole time, even if that wasn't evident to 27 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: other people, and even if the subject's own understanding of 28 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: their gender evolved over time. That doesn't exactly work for 29 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: the public universal friend, though the friends sincerely believed that 30 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: Jemima Wilkinson was a different living person who had died, 31 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: and that God had chosen to send a genderless celestial 32 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: being to dwell in Jemima's resurrected body, and that death 33 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: and resurrection were centrally important to the friend's religious identity 34 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: and to the religious community they established. So in this case, 35 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: it doesn't feel right to frame this episode with just 36 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: one name instead of pronouns, because that wasn't really how 37 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: the friend approached their own experience. The friend didn't answer 38 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: to the name of Jemima Wilkinson, and we won't use 39 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: that name when we're talking about the friend, but Jemima 40 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: was still an important part of this story who we 41 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: can't simply omit. So to tell Jemima's story. Jemima Wilkinson 42 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: was born on November twenty ninth, seventeen fifty two and 43 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: named after one of the daughters of Job. She was 44 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, in an area that had 45 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: been part of a dispute between Rhode Island and Massachusetts. 46 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,399 Speaker 1: At one point, it was considered part of the Massachusetts 47 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: town of Attleborough. Jemima was the eighth child of Jeremiah 48 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: and Amy Whipple Wilkinson, and the Wilkinsons had been living 49 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: in that area for four generations. The Wilkinsons were related 50 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: to several prominent Rhode Island families, including Stephen Hopkins, who 51 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:06,959 Speaker 1: was governor of Rhode Island Colony and later one of 52 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Their farm was 53 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: a successful one. Its main cash crop was cherri's and 54 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: the family was so well known for these cherries that 55 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:21,239 Speaker 1: Jemima's father was nicknamed Cherry Wilkinson. Jemima had four more 56 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: siblings that were born after she was and her mother 57 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: died shortly after giving birth to the last of those children. 58 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: Jemima was her eleven or twelve, and her mother had 59 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: at that point given birth to twelve children over the 60 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: span of twenty five years. Jeremiah never remarried after his 61 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: wife's death, and Jemima and her older sisters took part 62 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: in raising their younger siblings. The details of her childhood 63 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: and youth aren't that well documented. It's likely that she 64 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: did physical labor on the farm, and we do know 65 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: she became quite skilled at riding a horse. She was 66 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: also described as an attractive young woman and a voracious 67 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: reader with a sharp memory. She had very little formal education, 68 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: but through self study she developed a deep knowledge of 69 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: Quaker theology, particularly through the writings of figures like George 70 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: Fox and William Penn. We also know that several members 71 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: of the Wilkinson family had disagreement with the Smithfield Friends 72 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: Meeting that led to their being disowned. Jemima grew up 73 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: as tensions were escalating between Britain and its North American colonies. 74 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: The colony of Rhode Island declared its independence two months 75 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: before the rest of the colonies did on July fourth, 76 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy six. This situation put many Quakers patriotism at 77 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: odds with their religious pacifism. Jemima's brothers, Benjamin, Stephan and 78 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: Jepsa were disowned from the Smithfield meetings because they quote 79 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,239 Speaker 1: frequented trainings for military service and endeavored to justify the same. 80 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: Jemima's sister, Patience became pregnant in seventeen seventy six, but 81 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: was not married, and she was disowned for this. Jemima 82 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: ran a foul of the meeting's standards as well. It's 83 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,479 Speaker 1: believed that she attended a revival meeting by George Whitefield 84 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: also sometimes called George Whitfield, during his last tour of 85 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: New England in seventeen seventy, although her attendance isn't specifically 86 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:13,599 Speaker 1: documented at any of them. Sometime after that she started 87 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,280 Speaker 1: attending meetings of the New Light Baptists. Both the New 88 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: Lights and the Quakers stressed individual enlightenment and conscience as 89 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: part of their teachings, but the Quakers stressed the idea 90 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 1: of discussion and consensus when it came to matters of 91 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 1: theology and determining the scope of God's will. The New Lights, 92 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: on the other hand, believed that everyone had equal access 93 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,039 Speaker 1: to God at any time. There was no need to 94 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: discuss your conversion experience or your beliefs with anyone else 95 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: or get their approval for them to be real and valid. 96 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: In addition to attending these New Light meetings, it appears 97 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: that Jemima was talking about the New Light teachings during 98 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: her Quaker meetings. She was also refusing to use Quaker 99 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,919 Speaker 1: plain speech, which substituted THEE and thine in place of 100 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: you and yours. The reasoning for this was that when 101 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: the religious Society of Friends was being established, people used 102 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: THEE and thine for close relations, but you and yours 103 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: in a more formal context, including addressing royalty. This is 104 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: very similar to the way that two versus vous are 105 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,919 Speaker 1: used in French today. The Quakers believed in the equality 106 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: of all people and used THEE and thine for everyone, 107 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: regardless of rank, and continued speaking this way even as 108 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: you became more common outside of Quaker communities as the 109 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: pronoun to use for everyone. Ironically, today THEE and thine 110 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: sound very formal, but at the time they were thought 111 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: of as the casual option. By the summer of seventeen 112 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: seventy six, the Smithfield Friends had instructed Jemima to stop 113 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: speaking out of turn. That may have also involved her 114 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: speaking out about the disownment of her four siblings. She'd 115 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: also been instructed to stop going to the New Light 116 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: Baptist meetings. Jemima refused to do any of that, and then, 117 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,280 Speaker 1: like her her siblings before her, she was disowned from 118 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: the meeting in August of seventeen seventy six. There are 119 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: two different accounts of what happened next. One is that 120 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: Jemima threw herself into religious work, including ministering to and 121 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 1: caring for the sick. The other is that she withdrew 122 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: into her room and became increasingly isolated and morose. Either way, 123 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: on October fourth, seventeen seventy six, she became seriously ill. 124 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 1: An account that was tucked into the public Universal Friend's 125 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: Bible calls this illness Columbus fever, described as a Typhus 126 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: outbreak that came from the Navy ship Columbus that docked 127 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: in Providence, Rhode Island in seventeen seventy six. The Columbus 128 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: definitely did dock in Providence, but it's less clear whether 129 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: there was a typhus outbreak that spread from the ship. 130 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: This same account reads quote on the fourth day of 131 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: the tenth month, on the seventh day of the week, 132 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: at night, a certain young woman known by the name 133 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: of Jemima Wilkinson was seized with this mortal disease, And 134 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: on this the second day of her illness, was rendered 135 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: almost incapable of helping herself, and the fever continued to 136 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: increase until the fifth day of the week. About midnight, 137 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: she appeared to meet the shock of death. On October tenth, 138 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: Jemima's family called for a doctor. This was doctor Mann 139 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:21,600 Speaker 1: from neighboring Alborough, Massachusetts. Doctor Mann later wrote this account quote, 140 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: her case was like one other. He knew of that 141 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: the fever being translated to the head. She rose with 142 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: different ideas that what she had when the fever was general, 143 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: and she conceived the idea that she had been dead 144 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,680 Speaker 1: and was raised up for extraordinary purposes and got well fast, 145 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: but that she had been dead. None of her friends 146 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: or attendants had any apprehension or thought of her having 147 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: been dead, But she was for some time after considered 148 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: by her friends not to be in her right mind. 149 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,680 Speaker 1: The Friend's account of what happened is quite different from 150 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 1: doctor Mann's, and we are going to get into that 151 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: after we first paused for a sponsor break. As Holly 152 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: said before the break, the public Universal Friend's account of 153 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: what happened in October of seventeen seventy six is quite 154 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: different from the one by doctor Man that we read 155 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,559 Speaker 1: before the break. This account read, in part quote, the 156 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: heavens were opened, and she saw too archangels descending from 157 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,200 Speaker 1: the east with golden crowns upon their heads, clothed in 158 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: long white robes down to the feet, bringing a sealed 159 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 1: pardon from the Living God, and putting their trumpets to 160 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: their mouth, proclaimed saying room, room, room in the many 161 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,559 Speaker 1: mansions of eternal glory for thee and for everyone. Later, 162 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: in the same account, the Friend continued, quote, the Spirit 163 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: of Life from God had descended to Earth to warn 164 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,959 Speaker 1: a lost and guilty, perishing, dying world to flee from 165 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: the wrath which is to come, and to give an 166 00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: invitation to the lost sheep of the House of Israel 167 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: to come home, and was waiting to assume the body 168 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: which God had prepared for the Spirit to dwell in. 169 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: Some accounts have the word gossiping in place of the 170 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:14,079 Speaker 1: word perishing in that passage, possibly because of unclear handwriting. 171 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 1: From this point, the Friend stopped answering to the name 172 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: Jemima Wilkinson and became known as the Public Universal Friend, 173 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: as well as the All Friend and the Comforter, and 174 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,720 Speaker 1: a variety of other monikers. To followers, they were often 175 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:33,200 Speaker 1: just the Friend or the PuF. The name Public Universal 176 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: Friend also had some overlap with Quaker practices. Public friends 177 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,439 Speaker 1: were the Quakers who were authorized to travel from place 178 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:44,440 Speaker 1: to place and preach. The Friends stopped recognizing the Wilkinson 179 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 1: family as relatives, although several of the Wilkinsons were among 180 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: the Friend's first adherents. Those adherents generally avoided using gendered 181 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: pronouns or any pronouns at all when talking about the Friend. 182 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: This was true even in people's personal diary or other 183 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: private documents outside of those adherence, So people were all 184 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 1: over the place in terms of what pronouns and names 185 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: that they used to talk about the Friend, and this 186 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: continues until today. Most biographies and journal articles use he 187 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: or him or she and her. Tracy was telling me 188 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: before we even started that a lot of the pieces 189 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 1: she used as reference made this all very very confusing. Yeah, yeah, 190 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: I think there was one article of everything that I 191 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: read that used like a non gendered pronoun to talk 192 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,200 Speaker 1: about the friend, and the rest of them a lot 193 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: of them used she, and one entire book used he, 194 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: which I found jarring. The friend also started dressing in 195 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: a way that combined masculine, feminine, and clerical apparel. Congregationalist 196 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: Ezvras Styles described one outfit this way quote light cloth 197 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:58,320 Speaker 1: cloak with a cape like a man's purple gown, long 198 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: sleeves to wristbands, man's shirt down to the hands, with neckband, 199 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 1: purple handkerchief or neckcloth tied around the neck like a 200 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:10,559 Speaker 1: man's no cap, hair calmbed, turned over and not long. 201 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:15,440 Speaker 1: Wears a watchman's hat. In another account, Quaker missionary William 202 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:19,079 Speaker 1: Savory described the friend wearing a calico surplice, which is 203 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: a blousy liturgical garment. Others described the friend's appearance as 204 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: being similar to depictions of Jesus Christ. The friend's voice 205 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: was also described as neither masculine or feminine, or sometimes 206 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: as both masculine and feminine, although some detractors described the 207 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: voice as grum, which means morose, deep, or harsh, but 208 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:43,680 Speaker 1: also has connotations of sounding almost demonic. The Friend's first 209 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:48,199 Speaker 1: public sermon was delivered on October thirteenth, seventeen seventy six, 210 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,320 Speaker 1: so just three days after that doctor visit, they attended 211 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: services at the Elder Miller Baptist meeting House and then 212 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 1: afterwards spoke from under a tree outside the building. The 213 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,240 Speaker 1: Friend continued to preach from I'm the Wilkinson home and 214 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 1: in the area around Cumberland, Rhode Island, over the fall 215 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: and winter of seventeen seventy six and to seventeen seventy seven, 216 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 1: and then set off as an itinerant minister in the 217 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: early months of seventeen seventy seven. That year, Jeremiah Wilkinson 218 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: was disowned from the Smithfield Quakers, and the three Wilkinson 219 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: daughters who had not already been disowned, were all expelled 220 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: in seventeen seventy nine, all of that for following the 221 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 1: friend's teachings. The teachings were a fusion of Quaker and 222 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: New Late Baptist ideas, along with some mysticism. Followers wrote 223 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: about their prophetic dreams and their visions, and while the 224 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: Friend was still in Rhode Island. Faith healing was also 225 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: part of their ministry, although that seemed to have disappeared 226 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: after they moved on to other areas in the Northeast. 227 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 1: The Friend preached on ideas of equality among all people, 228 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: as well as being pacifist and abolitionist, and believed that 229 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: women should obey God rather than men. The Friend also encouraged, 230 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: but did not require, celibacy. These teachings also warned of 231 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: a coming apocalypse to begin on April first, seventeen eighty. 232 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,719 Speaker 1: In seventeen seventy eight, the Friend felt called to take 233 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: their preaching to England and made preparations to travel there, 234 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: something that required a lot of work because the Revolutionary 235 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: War was still going on. Although the Friend did get 236 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: permission from local authorities to make this trip and started 237 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: making arrangements for passage, the trip didn't actually wind up happening. 238 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: One possible reason is that the Friend met and converted 239 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: Judge William Potter. Potter was fifty seven at the time 240 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: and was one of several prominent and wealthy people among 241 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: the Friend's followers. Potter's father had been one of the 242 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: wealthiest planters in Narragansett, Rhode Island, Potter had inherited his 243 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: father's estate and had become one of the most prominent 244 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: men in that part of the colony. Potter had been 245 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: an Anglican, but he and his wife Penelope, left the 246 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:58,480 Speaker 1: church to follow the Public Universal Friend. But Potters became 247 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: a major source of the friends financial support. The judge 248 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: added a fourteen room extension onto his mansion for the 249 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: Friend and their attendants to live in, and he housed 250 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: the headquarters of the Friend's community for six years. He 251 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: also freed his enslaved workforce because of The Friend's abolitionist teaching. 252 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: Toward the end of the seventeen seventies, Potter either lost 253 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: or resigned from his position as a judge, as well 254 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: as from other offices he had been holding. Either he 255 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: stepped away from them all to focus on his work 256 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,359 Speaker 1: with the Friend, or he was voted out or lost 257 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 1: his appointments because of these religious views that the Friend 258 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: was teaching. From seventeen seventy eight to seventeen eighty seven, 259 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: the Friend was primarily based in Rhode Island, although they 260 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: traveled back and forth to other parts of New England, 261 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: as well as farther south into New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 262 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: The Friend established meetinghouses in other cities and towns, including 263 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: New Milford, Connecticut, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By the early seventeen eighties, 264 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,080 Speaker 1: the Friends following had become known as the Society of 265 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: Universal Friends. The Friends spent fourteen years as an itinerant minister, 266 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: traveling from place to place, usually with between twelve and 267 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: twenty followers. The Friend preached in exchanged for shelter, also 268 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: giving advice on things like domestic matters and farming, as 269 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:20,280 Speaker 1: well as mediating disputes. They had visited and cared for 270 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: POW's and injured soldiers on both sides of the Revolutionary War. 271 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: The Friend had also actively recruited new followers, including attending 272 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 1: the funerals of people of other faiths who had died, 273 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: both to offer comfort to the bereaved and to be 274 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: available for people who might be interested in their teachings 275 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: but kind of reluctant to seek them out otherwise. By 276 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty three, though, the Friend was being criticized in print, 277 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: beyond just articles that viewed their teachings as heretical or 278 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 1: their gender as suspicious. That year, former adherent Abner Browne 279 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 1: published enthusiastical errors transpired and detected. It didn't specifically name 280 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: the but it was clearly meant to be an expoze 281 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 1: of the friend's ministry. It may have been inspired by 282 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: the writing titled A brief account of a religious scheme 283 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: taught and propagated by a number of Europeans who lately 284 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: lived in a place called Niskiuna in the state of 285 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: New York, but now residing in Harvard, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 286 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:23,440 Speaker 1: commonly called Shaking Quakers. Again we always love a very 287 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,720 Speaker 1: long and convoluted title. This particular piece of writing was 288 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 1: an expose that was written by former Shaker Valentine Rathbun. 289 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: Brownell seems to have been motivated to write this work 290 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: after the Friend excommunicated him for publishing his own book 291 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: of prophecies without their permission. Among Brownell's accusations was that 292 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 1: the Friend maintained a spy network to pass them information 293 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,119 Speaker 1: about other people's sins in order to bring those transgressions 294 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,359 Speaker 1: up in front of the congregation during services. Brownell also 295 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 1: said that the Friend had instructed him to plagiarize previous 296 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,479 Speaker 1: works by Isaac Pennington and William Sewell and published them 297 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: as a book called Some Considerations Propounded to the several 298 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: sorts and sects of Professor of this Age. This book 299 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: had come out in seventeen seventy nine under the name 300 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: A Universal Friend to All Mankind. It was definitely straight 301 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:22,120 Speaker 1: up plagiarized. In September of seventeen eighty three, two members 302 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: of the Society drafted a declaration of faith in part 303 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:29,639 Speaker 1: to resolve ongoing questions about who the Friend actually was. 304 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: Some of the Friend's adherents described the Friend as a 305 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,919 Speaker 1: messiah or as a reincarnation of Jesus Christ, something that 306 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,679 Speaker 1: the Friend themself never claimed, but also didn't really deny. 307 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 1: This declaration described the Friend as quote the Council of 308 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,879 Speaker 1: the Lord, spoken by the influence of the Holy Spirit 309 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: through the Tabernacle of the Universal Friend. In seventeen eighty four, 310 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,360 Speaker 1: the Universal Friend's Advice to those of the same religious 311 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 1: society recommended to be read in their public meetings for 312 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: worship was published. The Friend had established meetinghouses in several 313 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: communities at this point, and this book contained instructions on 314 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 1: the structure of worship at those meeting houses, as well 315 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: as lots of Bible verses and other quotations. According to 316 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,399 Speaker 1: the Universal Friend's advice, meetings were to begin punctually at 317 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: ten in the morning, and people who couldn't attend meetings 318 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: were advised to sit down in their homes at the 319 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: scheduled time to quote wait four and upon the Lord. 320 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: Members were to live peaceably with all men as much 321 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 1: as possible, or to take up your daily cross against 322 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:36,120 Speaker 1: all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to speak in meetings 323 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: only when moved to do so by the Holy Spirit. 324 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:42,719 Speaker 1: The Friend's advice also included several references to the Golden 325 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 1: Rule and the admonition to quote live as you would 326 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: be willing to die. In seventeen eighty five, the Friend 327 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: met Sarah Richards. After Richard's husband died. The following year, 328 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: she joined the Society of Universal Friends, bringing her infant daughter, 329 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: Eliza with her. It became one of the most prominent 330 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,560 Speaker 1: people in the society and the closest person to the 331 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: public Universal Friend, essentially being second in the society's hierarchy 332 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 1: and becoming known as Sarah Friend. A couple of years later, though, 333 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: the society started to experience some troubles. On January fourth, 334 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty seven, several members of the Society were staying 335 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: at the home of David Wagner in Philadelphia. There was 336 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: some kind of argument between two of the Friend's adherents, 337 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: Sarah Wilson and Abigail Dayton. Wilson later accused Dayton of 338 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: trying to strangle her as she slept, something that other 339 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: people in the house wrote off as a nightmare. But 340 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: Wilson published an account of this whole incident that later 341 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 1: morphed into the Friend having tried to strangle her, even 342 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,120 Speaker 1: though the Friend was in Rhode Island at the time 343 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: this happened. By the late seventeen eighties, the Friend was 344 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 1: also facing increasing criticism and derision in New England. A 345 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: lot of it was connected to the Friend's genderlessness and 346 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: androgynoust physical appearance. Detractors were inordinately focused on what kind 347 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,439 Speaker 1: of undergarments the Friend wore, what their voice sounded like, 348 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 1: and whether there was something sexually licentious going on within 349 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: the Society of Universal Friends, which, as we said earlier, 350 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 1: encouraged celibacy. When the Friend established a meetinghouse in Philadelphia, 351 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:22,200 Speaker 1: it was almost immediately vandalized, which was the first time 352 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,360 Speaker 1: the Society of Universal Friends was the target of mob violence. 353 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 1: Criticism and persecution were among the factors that led the 354 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: Friend to establish a community in western New York. The 355 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:35,640 Speaker 1: Friend may have also been inspired by a Frada cloister 356 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,400 Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania or New York Shaker communities, and we'll talk 357 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:42,159 Speaker 1: more about that after we paused for another sponsor break. 358 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,240 Speaker 1: When the Public Universal Friends selected a location for their 359 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,639 Speaker 1: community of followers, it was in a region that was 360 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 1: being described as the uns settled frontier of the newly 361 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: established United States of America. Of course, that was not true. 362 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: What is now Western New York was home to the 363 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:13,160 Speaker 1: Seneca Nation, one of the six nations of the Hodenashonee Confederacy. 364 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: The Friend was described as being fair and respectful with 365 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 1: the Seneca people that they encountered, but we also only 366 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: have white people's descriptions of this. The society's first community 367 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: in New York was established in the Finger Lakes region, 368 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 1: an area that was highly disputed before the Revolutionary War. 369 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,120 Speaker 1: The colonies of New York and Massachusetts had argued over 370 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: whose charter it belonged to. After the war, Britain wanted 371 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 1: to claim it for the Loyalists and their former Hodina 372 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 1: shone allies. Meanwhile, the United States had tasked General John 373 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:50,960 Speaker 1: Sullivan with taking a scorched earth military campaign to punish 374 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:54,720 Speaker 1: the Hodenashonee nations that had allied with the British. Although 375 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,159 Speaker 1: the New York Constitution forbade private purchases of land from 376 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: indigenous names, the New York Genesee Land Company, also known 377 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,399 Speaker 1: as the Lessi Company, had tried to get around this 378 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: by securing a nine hundred and ninety nine year lease 379 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,919 Speaker 1: for it. Although the state ultimately invalidated that lease, the 380 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 1: company had become so influential that the state had to 381 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: then bring them on as negotiators when trying to get 382 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 1: a clear title to this land from the indigenous population. 383 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 1: So when the Society of Universal Friends started looking for 384 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: land in seventeen eighty five, they definitely were not heading 385 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: to a pristine, unsettled frontier. This was, as we said, 386 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: highly disputed territory, and the Society was benefiting from the 387 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: systemic destruction of the Seneca Nation. The society's first settlement 388 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,199 Speaker 1: was on the western shore of Seneca Lake, with the 389 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: first group arriving in seventeen eighty eight. Their goal was 390 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: to live in a truly communal way with all of 391 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:56,880 Speaker 1: the community's land being collectively held, but that idea turned 392 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: out to be impractical, especially given all of these ongoing 393 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 1: lease and title disputes over the land they were on. Instead, 394 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:08,240 Speaker 1: every member who contributed money toward the land acquisition was 395 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,879 Speaker 1: given a receipt with they're holding apportioned for use based 396 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: on how much each person had invested, but all of 397 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: the land was meant to belong to the community. Like 398 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 1: There were no property lines around any person's individual plot 399 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: of land. You could theoretically have the right to a 400 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: certain percentage of it, but it wasn't defined as a 401 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 1: specific piece of land in that parcel. Some of the 402 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: society's members returned to New England over the winter of 403 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty eight to seventeen eighty nine, and then came 404 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:43,560 Speaker 1: back to New York in the spring. The Universal Friend 405 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: didn't join them until seventeen ninety. They had planned to 406 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: do so a year earlier, but nearly drowned in a 407 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: carriage accident on the way. By this point, the Society 408 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 1: of Universal Friends had grown dramatically, with new followers drawn 409 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: in by the Friend's charismatic preaching. Eighteen ninety Census recorded 410 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 1: two hundred and sixty people living in the community, making 411 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: it the largest white settlement in Western New York. They 412 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 1: had also built a gristmill and a sawmill. A meeting 413 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:14,919 Speaker 1: house was finished in the summer of seventeen ninety as well. 414 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: Many of the settlement's households are actually headed by women, 415 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: and there were of course a large number of women 416 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:25,480 Speaker 1: among the Friends adherents. However, after this initial success, the 417 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:29,719 Speaker 1: settlement ran into a series of problems. In seventeen ninety, 418 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:33,240 Speaker 1: the federal government assumed state's debts from the Revolutionary War 419 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 1: under the Funding Act of seventeen ninety. The dispute between 420 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,200 Speaker 1: New York and Massachusetts about who owned Western New York 421 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:42,919 Speaker 1: had been settled with the Phelps and Gorham purchase of 422 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,320 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty eight, but after the Funding Act was passed, 423 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:50,959 Speaker 1: Massachusetts currency increased so much in value that Phelps and 424 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,240 Speaker 1: Gorham could no longer afford to pay for it. Land 425 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 1: in the area changed hands repeatedly. Property values soared. The 426 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: Society's land went from being worth two thousand, six hundred 427 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: dollars to being worth eighty six thousand dollars, and whether 428 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 1: the area was part of New York or Massachusetts was 429 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,680 Speaker 1: once again disputed in the fallout from the Funding Act, 430 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,640 Speaker 1: you know, and Phelps and Gorham couldn't afford to pay 431 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,159 Speaker 1: for it. Massachusetts was like, we could take some of 432 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: it back then, great, give me it. Yeah. As all 433 00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: of this was going on, some of the Society's wealthiest 434 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,320 Speaker 1: investors decided that even though they had paid for this 435 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 1: land on behalf of the community, they would take this 436 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:33,879 Speaker 1: opportunity to cash out on their investment and leave. This 437 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,560 Speaker 1: led to a bitter division between the community and some 438 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:41,040 Speaker 1: of its longtime members, as those with the most money 439 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,399 Speaker 1: arranged their sales without regard to who was living where 440 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: or where people had built homes, or planted orchards or 441 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: made other improvements. Judge William Potter, for example, who we 442 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,640 Speaker 1: talked about earlier, made about forty thousand dollars profit selling 443 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,679 Speaker 1: land that other people were actually living on. As the 444 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,719 Speaker 1: Society lost control of the land on Seneca Lake, they 445 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: moved once again in early seventeen ninety four, this time 446 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:08,400 Speaker 1: establishing New Jerusalem on the shores of Crooked Lake now 447 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,879 Speaker 1: called Cuca Lake. The Friend had started looking for land 448 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety two, and this time the deed for 449 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,480 Speaker 1: fourteen hundred acres had been assigned to Sarah Richards, also 450 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,920 Speaker 1: known as Sarah Friend, since the public Universal Friend refused 451 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: to do business under their legal name of record. Unfortunately, 452 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: Sarah Friend died after a long illness on November thirtieth, 453 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,720 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety three, and her will left the land to 454 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: another prominent woman in the society, Rachel Mallin. Once the 455 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: Friend arrived in New Jerusalem in seventeen ninety four, they 456 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:42,879 Speaker 1: lived in a log cabin with the poorest members of 457 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 1: the community, the ones who couldn't afford to build homes 458 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 1: of their own. The Friend had also established what they 459 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,399 Speaker 1: called the Faithful Sisterhood. This was a group of women 460 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: adherents who were the Friend's support circle and missionary force. 461 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,680 Speaker 1: Some of the Faithful Sisterhood also wore clothing that blended 462 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:03,399 Speaker 1: masculine and feminine element and avoid using gendered pronouns for themselves. 463 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: The Friend and the Society didn't escape legal and land 464 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:11,160 Speaker 1: troubles by moving to Cuca Lake, though. In seventeen ninety six, 465 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,879 Speaker 1: Eliza Richards, daughter of the late Sarah Richards, eloped with 466 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:19,199 Speaker 1: Rachel Mayland's younger brother, Enoch. Eliza was only sixteen and 467 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,359 Speaker 1: Enoch was not believed to be particularly cunning, so it 468 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: is not clear if they came up with this whole 469 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,920 Speaker 1: idea on their own or if someone else put them 470 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:30,360 Speaker 1: up to it. They claimed Sarah's will had been tampered 471 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: with and that Eliza had really inherited the society's land 472 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,880 Speaker 1: from her mother, and that meant that upon her marriage 473 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,720 Speaker 1: to Enoch, the land was legally his. In May of 474 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety eight, Enoch filed an ejection action against the community, 475 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 1: and the legal actions that followed went on until long 476 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:52,000 Speaker 1: after Eliza, Enoch, and the Friend had all died. Then, 477 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety nine, James Parker, one of the investors 478 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: who had sold his land for profit earlier on, brought 479 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,480 Speaker 1: charges of blasphemy against the Friend as part of an 480 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 1: ongoing attack by several former adherents who really seemed set 481 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: on just taking down their former religious leader. Judge Potter 482 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: was also part of this whole effort. The Friend was 483 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 1: questioned all these on these blasphemy charges in eighteen hundred. 484 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 1: They didn't give a direct answer about whether they were 485 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: the incarnation of Christ, but they flatly denied that they 486 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: had tried to replicate any of Christ's miracles. The judge 487 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: ultimately ruled that under the US Constitution, blasphemy was no 488 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: longer an indictable offense, and the charges were ultimately dropped. 489 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: The Friend gave up most of their public speaking and 490 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,920 Speaker 1: preaching after this, except for services held in New Jerusalem. 491 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: In eighteen eighteen, the Friend wrote out a will which 492 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 1: provided for the society's poorest members until the end of 493 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: their lives. It had been signed public Universal Friend, but 494 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: on the advice of an attorney, the Friend had added 495 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,240 Speaker 1: the note be it remembered that in order to remove 496 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 1: all doubts of the due execution of the foregoing Will 497 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: and Testament, being the person who before the year one thousand, 498 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: seven hundred and seventy seven was known and called by 499 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: the name of Jemimah Wilkinson, but since that time as 500 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,959 Speaker 1: the Universal Friend. Yeah. Their attorney was basically like, after 501 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: all of this land dispute that we have had going 502 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: on for so many years, please take this step to 503 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:24,160 Speaker 1: make sure to like not give somebody else ammunition for 504 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:28,960 Speaker 1: saying that your will is not valid. On April nineteenth, 505 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:33,040 Speaker 1: eighteen nineteen, Patience Wilkinson Potter died, and the Friend gave 506 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,720 Speaker 1: their last public sermon at her funeral. The friend died 507 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,320 Speaker 1: not long after, on July first, eighteen nineteen. Although the 508 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:44,600 Speaker 1: Society's death book used the words left time to mean died, 509 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,640 Speaker 1: the Friend's entry reads, quote twenty five minutes past two 510 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,760 Speaker 1: on the clock. The Friend went from here after lying 511 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 1: in state for four days so adherents could pay their respects. 512 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:59,120 Speaker 1: The Friend's body was buried in an unmarked grave. Court 513 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,360 Speaker 1: proceedings in the dispute over Sarah Richard's will went on 514 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:06,720 Speaker 1: until eighteen twenty eight. During that time, David Hudson wrote 515 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 1: the first biography of the Friend. Hudson was a law 516 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 1: partner of Robert W. Stoddard, who was representing Eliza and 517 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 1: Enoch Mahland's children in the land dispute. Rather than being 518 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:20,239 Speaker 1: an accurate account of the friend's life, this was a 519 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,640 Speaker 1: libelous fiction meant to discredit the friend and their community 520 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,760 Speaker 1: in court. Writing in the Quarterly Journal of the New 521 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:31,160 Speaker 1: York State Historical Association in nineteen thirty, Robert P. Saint 522 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:36,800 Speaker 1: John described this biography as a quote untrustworthy narrative composed 523 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 1: practically of sensational fiction. In the nineteen sixties, biographer Herbert 524 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 1: Wisby wrote, quote, Hudson's book should be considered properly not 525 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,880 Speaker 1: as a biography of Jemima Wilkinson, but as part of 526 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,680 Speaker 1: the campaign to get her land by discrediting her aims 527 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: and dispersing her followers. Unfortunately, the untruths in Hudson's book 528 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: were then repeated in other courses over the years, and 529 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: overtime the most outlandish rumors and accusations became part of 530 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,320 Speaker 1: the lore surrounding the friend Under the terms of the 531 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,480 Speaker 1: Friends Will, the community's poorest members were, as we said, 532 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:14,600 Speaker 1: to be supported until the end of their lives. The 533 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 1: last payments were made through a trust established by Rachel Malin, 534 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:20,800 Speaker 1: with the final payment from the trust made in eighteen 535 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 1: sixty two. The Friends Home in Jerusalem, New York is 536 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 1: still standing today and it's listed on the National Register 537 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:31,800 Speaker 1: of Historic Places. And before we move on to listener Mail, 538 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 1: I just wanted to shout out to my friend Adriel, 539 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:37,000 Speaker 1: who read over the introduction and overall framing of this 540 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:45,840 Speaker 1: episode for me. So thank you, Adriel. Thanks so much 541 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 1: for joining us on this Saturday. If you'd like to 542 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: send us a note, our email addresses History Podcast at 543 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio dot com and you can subscribe to the show 544 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to. 545 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 1: Your favorite show is