Public Universal Friend

Rare card · No. 18439

The Public Universal Friend (born Jemima Wilkinson; November 29, 1752 – July 1, 1819), also known by the Haudenosaunee name Shinnewawna gis tau ge, was an American preacher born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, to Quaker parents. After suffering a severe illness in 1776, the Friend claimed to have died and been reanimated as a genderless evangelist named the Public Universal Friend, and afterward shunned both birth name and all pronouns. In androgynous clothes, the Friend preached throughout the northeastern United States, attracting many followers who became the Society of Universal Friends. The Friend's theology was broadly similar to that of most Quakers. The Friend stressed free will, opposed slavery, and supported sexual abstinence. The most committed members of the Society of Universal Friends were a group of unmarried women who took leading roles in their households and community. In the 1790s, members of the Society acquired land in Western New York where they formed the town of Jerusalem...

Read on Wikipedia · Image John Lee Douglas “J.L.D.” Mathies, Public domain