A portrait of the Public Universal Friend appeared in the frontispiece of David Hudson’s 1821 biography, History of Jemima Wilkinson, a Preacheress of the Eighteenth Century. It depicts a smiling figure, short hair on top, long hair in back, with black robes and a white cravat. The artist is anonymous. Additionally, other pictures of the Public Universal Friend exist. These are an oil painting, four pencil drawings, two pastel sketches and a cartoon. All the artists are anonymous, except Paheli, who drew one of the pencil drawings, and Vin Salesi, who created the cartoon.
The Public Universal Friend (1752-1819), born Jemima Wilkinson, was an American minister. They were born a Rhode Island Quaker, growing up in Smithfield Meeting. After almost dying from typhus, they declared that they had had a vision. They said that Jemima Wilkinson had ascended to heaven, and God had reborn them with a spirit within them that they called the Public Universal Friend. They stated that they no longer had a birth name or gender and wore androgynous clothing. Asking not to be referred to by gendered pronouns, they said that they wanted to be addressed as “The Public Universal Friend” (or “The Friend” or “P.U.F.”). Quakers disowned them. But preaching a message that was similar to Friends beliefs, they drew many people, including Quakers, to form the Society of Universal Friends. (The Public Universal Friend also continued to use the plain language and now wore a Quaker broadbrim). The Universal Friends established the town of Jerusalem in western New York and built Meetinghouses in Rhode Island and Connecticut. By the 1860’s, however, the group had died out.
The Public Universal Friend remains a controversial figure. Many of their contemporaries regarded them as a fraud. Many in the present day see them as a pioneer in non-binary and women’s rights. They appear to have been a sincere preacher, trying to lead people to God.
Gary Sandman
February 2025