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Public Universal Friend, 1752-1819


  • [The Public Universal Friend (1752-1819) was born to a Quaker family in Rhode Island. After recovering from a severe illness, they reported that Jemima Wilkinson had died, their soul ascended to heaven, and their body had been reanimated with a new spirit charged by God with preaching his word. From that time on, the Public Universal Friend refused to respond to their birth name or gendered pronouns. Followers also referred to them in abbreviated forms such as "the Friend" or "PUF." The Public Universal Friend founded the religious sect the "Society of Friends" and in the 1790s started a utopian community in upstate New York.]
  • URI(s)

  • Variants

    • Universal Friend, 1752-1819
    • Publick Universal Friend, 1752-1819
    • PUF, 1752-1819
    • Universal Friend of Mankind, 1752-1819
    • Friend, 1752-1819
    • Wilkinson, Jemima, 1752-1819
  • Identifies LC/NAF RWO

  • Identifies RWO

      • Exact Matching Concepts from Other Schemes

      • Closely Matching Concepts from Other Schemes

      • Earlier Established Forms

        • Wilkinson, Jemima, 1752-1819
      • Sources

        • found: Some considerations, propounded to the several sorts and sects of professors of this age, 1779:t.p. (Universal Friend of Mankind)
        • found: Hudson, D. History of Jemima Wilkinson, 1821:appendix, p. 20 (Publick Universal Friend; Universal Friend)
        • found: Wikipedia, viewed February 7, 2023(The Public Universal Friend, born Jemima Wilkinson (29 November 1752-July 1, 1819) was a charismatic American evangelist who preached a theology similar to that of most Quakers; stressed free will, opposed slavery, and supported sexual abstinence, which attracted many followers who became the "Society of Universal Friends"; born Cumberland, Rhode Island; died Jerusalem, New York, near Penn Yan)
        • found: MWA/NAIP files, Oct. 28, 2024(access point: Public Universal Friend, 1752-1819; usages: Public Universal Friend; Publick Universal Friend; Universal Friend; Universal Friend of Mankind; Jemima Wilkinson; note: religious leader; born a Quaker in Rhode Island; identified as female at birth and named Jemima Wilkinson; attended local Quaker meetings; had a religious awakening after surviving a deadly fever in 1776, after which stopped using the name Jemima Wilkinson; identified as neither male nor female; dismissed by the Quakers, and in 1790 established a colony in Yates Co., N.Y.)
      • General Notes

        • [The Public Universal Friend (1752-1819) was born to a Quaker family in Rhode Island. After recovering from a severe illness, they reported that Jemima Wilkinson had died, their soul ascended to heaven, and their body had been reanimated with a new spirit charged by God with preaching his word. From that time on, the Public Universal Friend refused to respond to their birth name or gendered pronouns. Followers also referred to them in abbreviated forms such as "the Friend" or "PUF." The Public Universal Friend founded the religious sect the "Society of Friends" and in the 1790s started a utopian community in upstate New York.]
      • Editorial Notes

        • [This record contains source data that may be outdated and/or seem offensive to a modern eye. Due to the difficulties of applying modern descriptors to historical figures, please consider not editing the source data.]
      • Instance Of

      • Scheme Membership(s)

      • Collection Membership(s)

      • Change Notes

        • 1980-08-20: new
        • 2024-12-10: revised
      • Alternate Formats