May 29, 2025 • 50 mins
It began with a death and ended in revelation—a person walks out of their own funeral and declares themselves a prophet of the Lord, aflame with divine fury. Jemima Wilkinson, now the Publick Universal Friend, rode out into the American wilds with apocalyptic thunder in their throat and a posse of true believers in tow. In this week's fever dream of an episode, the Hosts gallop headlong into 18th-century religious mania, shattered identities, and a cult that danced on the knife's edge between sainthood and spectacle. This ain't Sunday school, folks—this is a sermon from the mouth of a living ghost. So lace your boots, load your pistols, and prepare to be baptized in weirdness. God rides a dark horse, and today, so do we. Citizens of the Milky Way, prepare yourselves for Cult of the Public Universal Friend!
Sound and Editing by Gage Hurley
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Sound and Editing by Gage Hurley
Check out VaporVerse: / @vaporversemusic
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TikTik: / creepstreetpodcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm the Public Universal Friend. Welcome to Jackass.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey, I'm Bucket Q. Welcome to Jackass.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Today.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
We've convinced thousands of people that our friend Puff is
going to walk on water?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Can she do it?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
No?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Oh? Oh oh oh gonna oh oh no, that's gotta hurt.
Please please, someone listen to me.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Please, what troubles you, stranger?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
My daughter she's dying. Can someone please? Can Can the
Public Universal Friend please save our daughter?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hey, I'm the Public Universal Friend. Welcome back to Jackass. Today.
We've convinced a family with a dead child that we
can bring their daughter back from the dead. Can I
do it?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
No, Citizens of the Milky Way, my name is Dylan Hackworth.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
And I'm good Hurley.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
And you have arrived in the Cult of Creep Street.
That's right, folks, welcome. You've been hazed, and now you've
been accepted into the Cult of Creep Street where everybody
has a good time. We are gonna take it back
now to colonial USA. That's right. We are talking about
(02:17):
arguably one of the first cults, if not the first
cult in American history. Today's episode is the Cult of
the Public Universal Friend. Hmm, that's right. Let me indoctrinate
(02:38):
you with my source today, Passing Strange True Tales of
New England Hauntings and Horrors by Joseph Citrow, a source
we've used a few times of past episodes, but let's
go ahead and dip our toes into the calm, cool
waters of seventeen seventy six Colonial America. Ooh, a time
(02:59):
when muskets thundered in the distance and revolution rippled across
the colonies. And the little town of Ledyard, Connecticut, it
was making its own headlines, and it had nothing to
do with liberation from the British crown. The townsfolk were
flooding into Ledyard to witness something far more unsettling, something
(03:23):
that didn't belong to the world of politics, but to
the supernatural. A young woman declared dead had somehow impossibly
come back to life, and word traveled fast about this miracle,
even for this time when you know you couldn't just
text a friend, you know you up to tell them
(03:46):
about this miracle. But yet word traveled fast, and by
the time the curious arrived in town, most already knew
the tale, or at least they thought they did. Because
when a miracle shows up in your own backyard. The
question isn't only just what happened, it's also why now,
(04:07):
and what's still lingering in its wake. The woman at
the center of this fever dream, the so called miracle
in ledyard, was a gal named Jemima Wilkinson. She was
just twenty four years old at the start of our tail.
(04:28):
She was born in seventeen fifty two in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Jemima had been raised among the Quakers and was one
member of a large and devout Quaker family. But even
as a child, folks had a hunch that Jemima was
She was different. She stood out from the pack.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
She was not about those oats. She was all about
the pancakes.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
That's right, baby, forget those oats. She wanted cakes, And apparently,
according to the tail, she had those cakes. Baby, she
had them. She was said to be strikingly beautiful by
most accounts, but it wasn't her beauty that drew the attention.
There was something else, something off kilter. She was also
(05:14):
known to often be unwell, prone to spells of sickness.
She avoided housework like the plague, and likewise seemed repelled
by anything common or domestic, and she had an almost
obsessive aversion to dirt, as if grime itself offended her.
But where Jemima truly set herself apart was in the
(05:38):
matters of faith. While other children played, Jemima poured over scripture.
She studied Quaker doctrine, meditated on death, heaven, and the
afterlife with the intensity of someone who was near the
end of their life, not the vibrant age of twenty four.
By the time she reached young Adulthoodia i'ma Wilkinson could
(06:01):
quote chapter and verse as fluently as a seasoned preacher.
Her everyday speech became so saturated with biblical language, so
steeved in the King James Cadence that people often couldn't
tell where the book ended and Jemima began. She didn't
speak so much as she delivered proclamations, and while it
(06:24):
struck some as unnerving this young woman walking and talking
like a prophet, it would, in the years to come
become one of her greatest tools, because when the veil
between life and death end, Jemima would have no problem
stepping through it. Now in her teenage years, tragedy struck
(06:49):
Jemima's mother died giving birth to her thirteenth child. Give
it up to them Quakers, and give it up to
the eighteenth century, a staggering blow to the family that
left a permanent mark. Shortly after, the grieving Wilkinsons packed
up their things and left Cumberland, Rhode Island, settling then
(07:09):
in Ledyard, Connecticut. And it was in Ledyard that Jemima
really began to turn heads. On one hand, she was
the stuff of rumors due to her odd mannerisms and
her aloofness and holier than thou speech. To some she
was strange and to others unsettling. But to the local
(07:31):
young guys, Jemimah Wilkinson was spellbinding. With her dark hair
and commanding gaze and an aura of something just slightly otherworldly,
she stood apart from the other gals. She wasn't like
other girls, you know. She liked football, cussin playing video games.
She literally drove the boys crazy. Jemima she wasn't interested
(07:59):
in Chason boy. No matter how persistent, or how eligible,
or how flattering her suitors were, none of them stirred
her soul. She had eyes for something else entirely, and
soon it would come calling. Now by all accounts, Jemima
Wilkinson's path had already been set. Most who knew her
(08:21):
thought she'd probably just grow old there in ledyard, sickly, unmarried,
forever reciting scripture into the void. That is, until providence intervened,
because at the age of twenty four, Jemima fell gravely ill,
and then she died. Her family, hearts heavy with sorrow,
(08:46):
followed the custom of the day. They laid her body
out in the parlor, dressed and ready for mourning. Neighbors gathered,
offering prayers, kind memories, and the sort of respectful distance
deserve for a good Quaker death. She was placed in
a simple pine box and carried to the graveyard. But
(09:08):
just as they were preparing to lower her into the ground,
something happened. Someone stepped forward, asking to see her just
one last time. History is not sure if it was
family or a friend that asked this, nor is it
understood why the person wanted that one last look at
(09:31):
the body of the fair Jemima. Perhaps it was love,
for even suspicion, perhaps it was something else entirely, because
when the coffin lid was lifted, what they saw would
send a shock through the gathered crowd because Jemima Wilkinson, Oh,
she wasn't at her end. It was just the end
(09:54):
of Act one, baby, just the setup. That's right, it
was just the setup. She was about to go full
Andy Kaufman on their asses because instead of a cold,
lifeless face, they saw color in them cheeks, her eyes
wide open, and then the miracle, Jemima Wilkinson sat up.
(10:21):
She wasn't gasping, nor was she disoriented. She simply rose
up and stepped out of the coffin like it was
no more than climbing out of bed, kind of like
the Undertaker after a close three count, just shoots up.
You think he's down, damn. And thus she began to speak,
(10:41):
not in terror or confusion, but with prophecy. She spoke clearly, calmly,
and with the cadence of scripture. At the moment of death,
she said she had been visited by two archangels descending
from the east. She's described them as wearing golden crowns
and were clothed in long white robes that reached to
(11:05):
their feet. She described them not with awe, but with certainty.
Whatever had happened in that grave, Jemima Wilkinson seemed to
have crossed a threshold, and she didn't come back alone.
She was said to have proclaimed, yes, I have passed
(11:25):
through the gates of a better world, and I have
seen the light. Oh. And then came her vivid and
detailed testimony, which, considering the miracle before the eyes of
the onlookers, was disturbingly persuasive. She spoke of heaven, not
in metaphors or parables, but as if she had literally
(11:46):
toured the streets of gold herself. She described it with
clarity of memory, not imagination. She said the angels had
given her a mission, a divine charge. She had not
merely returned life. She had returned transformed, and from that
day forward she was no longer Jemima Wilkinson. She had
(12:08):
been chosen to become this second Redeemer and her purpose
to begin the moral regeneration of the world, and her
resurrection was only the beginning. In light of her miraculous
resurrection and rebirth, she revealed that the divine powers who
sent her back to the world of the living had
(12:31):
done more than just restore her life. They had given
her a new spirit, the soul that had once been
Jemima Wilkinson, she said, was gone, laid to rest for good.
Within her now was something heavenly, something appointed. And with
this transformation came a decree. She was never again to
(12:55):
be called Jemima Wilkinson. That name belonged to the past,
to the woman who is initially laid to rest in
that coffin. From this moment forward, she was to be
known only as the Public Universal Friend. This was not
a title or even a name, really, but a mantle
(13:19):
borne by someone no longer claiming to be of this world.
The Friend claimed to be the embodiment of righteousness, and
her message was clear. She was no ordinary prophet. She
was being sent back with a purpose. And the clock
it started ticking. And what's interesting, maybe that was just
(13:43):
how they an old formal spelling of the word but
public is actually spelled lick public. But yeah, what a name,
the Public Universal Friend. Very interesting. Now today we might
try to explain such a claim away. We'd likely call
it a near death experience and chalk it up to
(14:06):
a hallucination brought on by the fever of death, or
maybe even label it as an elaborate hoax or some
desperate bid for attention or even for financial gain. But
in seventeen seventy six, in a time when religion shaped
reality and when angels and demons walked among humanity freely,
(14:27):
a return from the dead was heralded as a divine event. Naturally,
the local minister wanted answers, who were these angels, what
did heaven look like? What message had this friend brought
back from beyond the veil? So he asked if she'd
speak publicly at the church, and the friend readily agreed.
(14:51):
Of course, after all, this was the mission to be heard,
to be seen, and to call the world to account. Now,
as the story goes, when the friend, or the Puff
as we'll call her the Puff the PuF took the pulpit,
something about her shifted. She preached like one possessed, but
(15:16):
not by something dark, but by something radiant and unshakably
sure of herself. Those who came expecting to see the frail,
sickly woman that Jemima once was found instead a firebrand,
delivering sermons with a force that seemed to come from
somewhere else entirely, and her presence was something to behold
(15:41):
even for skeptics. There was no denying it. She was
striking and not just because of what she said, but
of course how she looked while saying it. As the
Marquis de barbe Marbeau observed with a mix of awe
and intrigue, quote, this soul sent from heaven has chosen
(16:01):
a rather beautiful body for its dwelling, and many living
ladies would not be unwilling to inhabit that outer shell. Yes,
the Friend didn't just command attention with her words and presence.
She was quite the looker as well, and it led
some to wonder if this really was a message from heaven,
(16:22):
why did it look so much like a temptation. Soon
word of this miraculous gal spread like wildfire through the
towns and back roads of southern Connecticut. People came from
miles around, some to gawk, some to believe, and some
(16:43):
just to satisfy their curiosity. Who wouldn't be drawn in
by tales about the woman who died and rose again,
calling herself the public Universal Friend. Men found her to
be an eye full, of course, that much was certain,
be it man or woman, though no one left without
getting an earfull as well, because the Friend came armed
(17:05):
with revelation, sharing everything the angels had told her They
promised her that she would live for a thousand years,
that she would rise to become the spiritual leader of
a new nation, the United States of America, not yet born,
but already watched from above. She was a prophet, a
(17:30):
vessel for God's words, a mirror reflecting a heaven few
had dared to imagine. Naturally, she was invited to pulpits
across Rhode Island and Connecticut, carrying her message of moral rebirth,
divine instruction, and a world being reshaped and God's people
(17:50):
being called to rise with it. And boy did people listen,
Because whether they loved her or feared her, almost everyone
believed her. The Friend spoke like someone who knew what
waited for them beyond the grave, with an unflinching certainty.
According to biographer Herbert Wisby, the public Universal Friend wasn't
(18:15):
just another charismatic voice in the pulp pit. Jamivin Wilkinson
or whatever had taken her place, seemed to carry what
Wisby called a messianic complex, a belief not only that
she was chosen, but that she was essential to the
world's moral rebirth, almost like a christ figure. According to Wisby,
(18:40):
that complex gave her an iron like self confidence so
unshakable it became magnetic. Pair that with her genuine sincerity,
and it made her a preacher that people couldn't look
away from. You didn't have to agree with her to
be pulled in. These sermons were nothing short of a
commander performance, with moments that felt like something was genuinely
(19:04):
piercing the veil being passed down from on high. Not
to mention, as we know, she was apparently a knockout,
which I'm sure helped. One day in East Greenwich, when
the Friend stood before a group of thirty five listeners,
she paused mid sermon and declared, one of you will
(19:26):
not live to see another day. The words dropped like
a ton of bricks. As you can imagine. She didn't
say it with a fluid passion or theatrics, just a
simple shilling promise, one that would shockingly come true. Sure enough,
that very night, just hours after the Friend's shilling prophecy,
(19:51):
a young boy it was a black servant, had been
seated in the audience, and he doubled over and died.
And he was young, like literally the age of a boy.
He was a boy. Naturally, some said it was coincidence.
Others even suspected foul plays, such as maybe poison. But
(20:13):
to many, it didn't matter how it happened, only that
the public universal Friend had spoken it and it had
come to pass.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Well, it kind of matters how it happened, right, Yeah,
and insane coincidence. But if poison was the reason and
it was her, then of course that would.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Matter, right. And of course it has to happen to
the poor servant, you know, it couldn't happen to like,
you know, some rich asshole you know.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Of course, yeah, he's a servant. He's just a child,
I mean.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Right, exactly, that kind of immediacy. The way life and
death seemed to follow in her wake only deepened the
legend surrounding her, and with that legend came loyalty. As
she traveled from town to town, the Friend began to
gather followers who were zealous, devoted, and utterly convinced of
(21:05):
her righteousness. They became known as the Jemimaites, and by
seventeen eighty the Friend in her growing flock, had settled
in New Milford, Connecticut. There they built their own house
of worship, a sacred space for her sermons and the slow,
certain shaping of a new spiritual order. The Public Friend
(21:30):
wasn't just preaching anymore. She was establishing a kingdom right
there in New England. Stories and rumors swirled around the
Public Universal Friend like a mist. She was a walking
reddit threat, with tales of her acts becoming stranger and
increasingly unbelievable. Most told of her gift of prophecy, of course,
(21:54):
and her uncanny ability to foresee events with eerie precision.
But more and more the tales turned from visions to miracles.
She wasn't just a mouthpiece for heaven anymore. She was
beginning to be seen as a living vessel of divine power,
more divine than disciple. And then came the moment that
(22:18):
would either seal her sainthood or shatter her. Following in Swansea, Massachusetts,
the Friend made a bold proclamation. As a demonstration of
her divine authority, she would replicate the feet of the
First Redeemer himself. This gal was gonna walk on water.
(22:43):
The announcement was made with an unflinching sincerity. The words spread,
and when the day arrived, they came by the thousands
from all around. Crowds gathered along the shores of Mount
Hope Bay, their eyes fixed on the water, waiting to
see whether this woman could defy nature itself. They came
(23:07):
seeking a sign, but what they got was something else Entirely.
The crowd fell into a hush as the friend emerged,
radiant and regal as ever, and robed in flowing garments
that shimmered in the sunlight like an angelic vision. She
stood before the thousands, gathered, her gaze sweeping over them
(23:30):
with a kind of solemn weight, and then came the haranguing.
She preached a fiery, relentless message, warning of sin, calling
on everyone to repent. Her proclamations filled the salty air
as the group listened with rapt attention, but everyone was
(23:51):
really there for the big show that was still to come,
the main events. Wrapping up her message, she turned, stepped
toward the water, and with all the confidence of a
chosen vessel of God, she stepped in. And then the
(24:13):
girl sank like a stump, just a splash of cloth
and flesh meeting cold reality, and with it came gasps,
laughter and open expressions of doubt. The crowd, whether they
expected her to actually walk on water or not, was shocked.
Dripping and furious, Jemima turned on them all. Her failure,
(24:37):
she declared, was their fault. The water hadn't held her
because of their skepticism, their mockery, and their lack of faith.
Radiating from the crowd, she stomped away, wet robes clinging
to her like a heavy shame. The Friend had come
to walk on water, but instead Gal went for a swim.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
I mean, it sounds a little bit like an excuse, like,
come on, guys, you distracted me with your skepticism.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely ahead, come on, but what are
you guys doing over here? You know, at least a
professional golfer gets the courtesy of some silence when they're
making their first drive.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
You know what I mean exactly.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
While not certain, it's doubtful that the public universal Friend
ever actually attempted the walking on water routine again. After all,
one very public sinking tends to make a second performance
hard to sell. But like all good legends, the tale
didn't die. It splits, multiplied, and morphed, taking roots in
(25:48):
different corners of New England, each telling shaded with a
slightly different truth. One alternative version ends not with soggy defeat,
but with a master stroke of spiritual theater. In this telling,
the friends stood before the crowd, robes, rippling eyes, a light,
and posed the question, not once, but over and over.
(26:12):
Do you have faith? Yes, we have faith. Do you believe? Yes,
we believe. Again and again. She drove the ritual forward,
working the masses into a frenzy of feverish unity. She
was doing crowd work for God's sake.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Just as she stood poised to step onto the water,
she paused, and one final time, she asked, do you
have faith? Do you believe I can do this thing? Yes? Sweet,
believe well. She held that moment a prophet standing on
the edge of the impossible, and then she smiled and
(26:55):
said that is good. If you have faith, you need
no evidence. And with that she gathered her robes, turned
from the bay, and walked away, dry as a bone, triumphant.
As ever, it didn't matter whether or not she could
perform the miracle. She already performed. The crowd baby played
(27:17):
them like a fiddle. But, as I said, that's just
one version of the story. I would be fucking pissed
if that was the version I got.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Yeah, I mean, that would be like showing up to
a WWE match, and like, do you guys believe I
could win this match? If you believe, I don't need
to actually.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Go through with it, right, right, You're not.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Gonna see the rock and undertake her tonight.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
That's right. Or it'd be like a band coming out
and be like you guys writing a rock to try. Yeah,
well that's good enough, because you know we could play
these songs if we wanted to, and then.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Leave, right, just show up and be like you remember
this hit? Yeah, you remember this hit song? Yeah, yeah,
I'm glad you guys enjoyed.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
And then there's a version that the skeptics tell. In
this version, the miracle was smoking mirrors. The friend's loyal followers,
wanting desperately to solidify Jemima's divinity in the eyes of
the masses, were said to have built a wooden walkway
that lay just beneath the water's surface at Mount Hope Bay,
(28:30):
invisible to the crowd. It would allow the Friend to
stride across the waves, appearing to defy the laws of
nature while quietly walking on faith and plywood. But legend
says the non believers, those who'd come not to worship,
but to watch or fail got wind of the plan,
(28:51):
and under the cloak of night, they removed a few
critical planks from the platform. So when the day came,
when the friend gets robes and stepped into the water
with all the grandeur of a divine emissary, she took
a few glorious dry steps and then suddenly sank, not
swallowed by divine mystery or unseen forces, but betrayed by
(29:14):
the absence of two by fours, and just like that,
the miracle unraveled. Now, I would say, even if you
got a few steps in, that's still impressive. It's kind
of like Wiley coyote when he runs off a cliff
and it's not until he looks down that he falls exactly.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
And now would makes sense that it was more of
a parlor trick planned it's I mean, we don't know, obviously,
there's multiple tellings here, but that one makes a lot
of sense that she was, that she had this plan,
and that somebody sabotaged.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
It right exactly exactly, Because then, like I said, it
leaves enough room for debate, because especially if the masses
don't see that there's a walkway, they might go, well,
she still did walk on water. Part of the way
like and then pelk, so it kind of gives ammo
for both sides. Ooh, just had to take a quick
(30:08):
pause there, creep Street, just to give your poor palpitating
hard arrest. If you're enjoying this episode, go ahead and
follow us on Facebook, Instagram at creep Street Podcast, Twitter
at creep Street Pod, TikTok at creep Street Podcast. That's right,
and if once a week is not enough for you,
just head on over to patreon dot com for all
(30:30):
sorts of goodies. We got three different tiers there, something
for every tier, so get your fixings. We even got
a free tier where you can listen to the weekly
sketches before they go live on the episode. Now, without
further ado, back to today's story. Just like that, though
(30:53):
the miracle unraveled, the illusion was shattered, leaving behind only
wet robes and doubt. It wasn't just her body that
took a plunge that day, it was her reputation and
her claim to immortality. And just when you thought the
stories couldn't get any stranger, there's another tale in which
(31:14):
the public universal Friend not only walked on water, but
aimed to outdo herself yet again, this time she would
attempt to raise the dead. The event was announced and
the date was set like a.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Pay per view, it's buffering again.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
A ha, yes, buffering indeed, buffering indeed, because what was
about to happen was batch in four k. The crowd gathered,
buzzing with anticipation and unease and the faint terrible hope
that they might see death defeated. The friends stood before them,
(31:54):
solemn and radiant, and beside the shrouded corpse. She prepared
to call the soul back from the beyond. And a skeptic,
had said, stepped forward. The friend stood before them, solemn
and radiant, and beside her was these shrouded corpse. She
prepared to call his soul back from the beyond. When
(32:16):
a skeptic stepped forward. He asked flatly if anyone could
verify that the body was truly dead, And then louder
so all could hear, he made an offer, let me
run it through with a sword, then we'll know. And
with that the miracle happened. The corpse sprang to its
(32:39):
feet and ran for its dang life. A very living,
very terrified person was said to have bolted through the crowd.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
It was like, I just got back, man, don't run
me through with.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
A sword, right exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
I'm getting a second chance here now.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Whether this was a staged miracle or not, one things clear.
The public universal Friend may have claimed to hold the
keys to life and death, but even she couldn't account
for a corpse that knew when to run. Next, enter
a man named Judge William Potter. He was a man
(33:17):
of prominence, wealth, and no small amount of pride. His estate,
called Old Abbey, was said to be the grandest in Kingston,
Rhode Island, a stately home fit for a gentleman of
the bench. But even privilege can't keep out death. As
we know, his daughter Susannah, had grown gravely ill. The
(33:41):
local doctors had tried everything from leeches to tonics to prayers,
but nothing seemed to be working. That's when the Friend arrived.
Radiant and competent, she promised the desperate mister Potter a cure.
Desperate and weary Judge Potter and his wife Penelope agree,
(34:03):
after all, what did they have to lose? But what
came next was something they could have never predicted. Because
the Friend didn't come alone. She brought her flock, the faithful,
fanatical followers, now known as the Jemimicans, they changed their
name from the jemima Heites to the Jemimicans.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Yeah, I guess it just had a better ring to it.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
Probably just a little easier to say Jamimicans. That sounds
like something you'd shouted, like when you're startled. Yeah, Jemimaicans.
And before the Potters could say no, well, gosh dang,
this whole group of Jemimicans moved in with them. Suddenly
the halls of old Abbey, once filled with the hush
(34:50):
of polite society, were alive with constant chanting rituals and
the drone of prophecy. The Friend had turned the mansion
into a temple, and the potters lives into a sideshow,
their home into a holy ground. And that's when, as
the old story say, all hell broke loose, because despite
(35:12):
all the incense and prayers and all the thundering promises
of divine favor, Susannah Potter died. Judge Potter's little girl,
his only daughter, slipped away under the same roof where
the puff and her followers had sworn she'd be saved.
(35:32):
But Jemima wasn't rattled in the slightest. Oh no, no, no,
Instead she simply pivoted. If she couldn't prevent death, well
she'd just have to rebse it. She told the grieving
Potters that she would bring Susanna back. It might take
some time. Of course, a miracle of that magnitude required patience,
(35:54):
but she had plenty. After all, she reminded them she
was going to live for a thousand years. Right. Well,
the Potters weren't immortal. They were heartbroken parents waiting for
the Friend to make good on her godly boast while
their daughter lay dead. Days passed, then weeks, and still
(36:17):
no resurrection. And, as one account puts it with devastating finality, quote,
the laws of nature were inflexible, and in the end
Susannah stayed dead, and the friends promise, like so many others,
never rose from the grave. Now, by the time the
(36:39):
Puff and her jemimicns were finally shown the door at
Old Abbey, she had done more than wear out her welcome.
She had lightened Judge Potter's pockets by thousands of dollars.
Oh and that wasn't the end of her divine fundraising efforts. No,
another miracle of generosity was just over ther Riyes, this
(37:01):
time from the state of Rhode Island itself. While she
and her followers were staying overnight at the home of
the state treasurer, something curious occurred, let's call it a
mysterious transaction. A not so insignificant sum of money somehow
made the holy leap from the state treasury directly into
(37:23):
the coffers of the public universal friend, and apparently the
Good Lord commanded a heavenly redistribution of wealth to the faithful.
It was further proof of her divine favor. To the skeptics, well,
they called it theft with flair either way, Jemima never
(37:43):
claimed to be bound by earthly bookkeeping. When you walk
with angels, the rules of man don't always apply. Well,
it wasn't long after that divine withdrawal that rumors were
swirling that showed the tide was turning against the so
called prophet tests. So the puff made a decision. It
(38:06):
was time to go out west. Faith in New England
was waning, and the whispers of doubt were growing louder
than the hymns. But there were plenty of lost souls
still out there and somewhere out west. The next chapter awaited,
So she did what any self proclaimed messiah would do.
(38:27):
She summoned her Jemimicans, who prepared for her a well
padded easy chair, something fit not just for travel, but
for something like a royal procession. Painted loud and proud
and a little absurd, it bore her holy initials p
U F emblazoned on both sides, like a seal of
celestial royalty. She climbed aboard, and the Jemimicans lifted her high,
(38:53):
carrying their profit tests like a living arc of the Covenant,
and off they went, marching westward towards the promised land
of Upstate New York, a land where the soil was
fertile not just for crops, but for dough eyed believers,
a place where prophets, seers and spiritual revolutionary seemed to
(39:15):
sprout like weeds. And in that wilderness of believers and
would be saviors, the puff would stake her final claim.
But fortunately for the Friend, the Lord's ledger was flush,
or at least her coffers were. Between the donations and
the disappearances of state funds and the unwavering devotion of
(39:36):
her followers, she made more than enough to finance her
next divine endeavor, and so, with pockets full and a
sense of purpose blazing within, she purchased land in the
wide open wilds of upstate New York, where she founded
what she called her quote little Jerusalem. It was a
settlements and a sanctuary, her own kingdom carved from the wilderness,
(40:01):
where she could preach, prophesy and reinvent herself one last time.
There she presided for the rest of her days, no
longer the scandalous firebrand of New England, but something softer
and more tame time as a way of standing off
the edges, and in her later years, the Friend was
(40:21):
remembered not for her failed miracles or flamboyant titles, but
for something gentler. She became known as a sincere, kindly
and even benevolent woman, a preacher and shepherd to her flock,
and a mystery to everyone else. She may have started
as Jemima Wilkinson, a sickly, self educated Quaker girl with
(40:44):
no formal power or standing, but she became the first
native born woman in American history to found her own
religious society. That alone places her in rare company such
as Universalist John Murray and Shaker visionary Mother Anne Lee,
the public Universal Friend, stands as one of the three
(41:06):
great religious trailblazers of the Revolutionary era. She didn't come
from money, and she wasn't simply handed a pulpit or platform.
But somehow, through sheer, conviction, charisma, and a dose of
divine drama, she drew to her side a following that
was ironically wealthier and better educated than she herself ever was.
(41:30):
And not only did she preach, she let a whole
flock physically and spiritually into the primeval American wilderness, a
landscape as untamed as her theology. And there, in a
clearing cut from the forest and faith, she built Little Jerusalem,
a place meant for her faithful and where the ordinary
(41:51):
rules bent. Somehow, this average young woman in colonial America
was able to lead men and women alike towards something
stranged and to something sacred. At least to some, she
may have walked away from her own name, passed, and
according to some the laws of nature. But more than anything,
(42:12):
Jemima Wilkinson carved out a new identity, one bold enough
to outlive her and weird enough to be remembered to
this day. As Herbert Wisby so aptly put it in
his biography of the Friend, quote, Jemima Wilkinson deserves to
be ranked with the small group of outstanding women of
(42:32):
the colonial period. And he's right. She was more than
a preacher. She was a disruptor. Even if it was
all bullsh you do have to hand it to her.
She claimed authority where none were granted and built a
movement when most women weren't even allowed a voice in
the pulpit, let alone a kingdom of their own believers.
(42:57):
She named herself a new declared death beaten, and envisioned
a life that would last one thousand years. And sure
that part didn't quite pan out. In the end, Jemima
Quote left time, as her followers would later put it,
in eighteen nineteen, at the age of sixty seven. Not
quite eternal, but not bad for someone who had already
(43:20):
died once before. So whether you believe she was truly
touched by the divine or simply one of the boldest
religious showmen in American history, one thing is certain. The
public Universal Friend may be gone, but she still lives
in legend, and legends, as we know here on Creep Street,
have a funny way of never staying buried kind of
(43:44):
like Jemima herself, and that will wrap it up for
the public universal friend. Now, I called it the cult
because in way it was now there wasn't you know
what we usually associate with cults, especially ones we cover
(44:04):
here on Creep Street, as far as we know, the
violence or anything like that. And I'm assuming people were
able to come and go if they wanted to. Maybe
the financial aspect, if people were like giving their life
savings over something that might be obviously a more cult like.
But yeah, like the sources said it regardless if it
(44:25):
was all bullshit, like, for a woman in that time
to claim the respect and authority she had was really impressive,
even if it was all bullshit.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Absolutely, it's very unique in that way. And she seemed
like a very ambitious person because you know, to me,
I definitely leaned towards she was a religious showman, but
especially considering all the things that she predicted that didn't
come to pass. But right, that still doesn't make it
any less impressive. Like you said, I mean, she clearly
(44:56):
had ambition, yeah, and was successful.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
Yeah, absolutely, I mean, honestly, probably if she was born today,
she might have been like a movie star. She had charisma,
she had looks, she was able to deliver, I guess,
almost like a performance in a way, like was able
to give a very earnest when she was preaching, as if,
you know, she seemed to actually believe it herself. She
(45:21):
might have been a big movie star or something like that,
you know, if it was today.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Which also I wonder, I'm sure she probably faked her death.
If indeed all of this is bullsh then that initial
resurrection was probably staged somehow, you know.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
I thought about that too, and part of me wouldn't
be surprised if see, because back then they used to
put bells on tombstones with strings that would go down
to the coffin because people were actually somewhat fairly often
buried alive, because if you were in a state of
you know, if you were in a coma or something
(46:02):
like that, you might, by all accounts, appear dead. And
because they don't have ways of monitoring the heartbeat or
you know, especially if it was very faint or whatnot,
it was very often that this sort of thing happened.
You heard of people like suddenly sitting up in their
coffin and whatnot, because they weren't actually dead. So you
might be right, You might be right that it was
all fake, or it might be a case of that
(46:24):
where they truly thought she was dead and you know,
it was basically on the fence of being dead and
then maybe came to right.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
That's a good point, very possible. And then if that
had happened, she could have conceivably said to herself, I'm
going to take advantage of this reputation, I'm going to
use this as an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (46:43):
Right, because she might have seen herself as coming back
from the dead as well, and that might have helped
install that sense of conviction, because I'm sure like part
of her, even if she knew she could walk on water,
part of her really had to believe that she was
touched by God. I wouldn't be surp if she believed
it herself to some extent if that was the case,
(47:04):
If she was essentially on death's door and then made
that recovery and believed herself to have been dead, So.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Yeah, she could have genuinely believed it. You're right. Imagine
she was in some sort of a calm or something.
She snaps out of it. She's probably convinced that, yeah,
this was something divine.
Speaker 3 (47:22):
Yeah, yeah, And you know, of course we will never
know for sure, but it sounds like at least she
wasn't violent with her group, or there wasn't like weird
as far as we know, like weird sexual stuff or
anything like that going on that you hear so often
about in cults. But very fascinating, I mean, truly in
a weird way, your American story. If someone coming from
(47:44):
nothing and rising to the top rags to riches, that's right, absolutely,
and it makes you wonder did she convince that state
treasurer guy from Rhode Island to give her the money
or was there like a little bit of yeah, bit
of hanky hanky going on?
Speaker 2 (48:00):
How did she get that money? Who knows?
Speaker 3 (48:04):
Interesting? Interesting, indeed. But I'll tell you what, Gage, I
got a list of names I wouldn't mind building the
New Jerusalem with.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Oh yeah, who's that?
Speaker 3 (48:13):
The names of our top tier Patreon subscribers, of course,
The Dream James Watkins, the Finished Face Via Lungpus, the
Madman Marcus Hall, the Tenacious Teresa Hackworth, the Heartbreak Kid,
Chris Hackworth, Theoso Swave, Sean Richardson, the notorious Nicholas Barker,
the terrifying Taylor lash Met, the Count of Cool, Cameron Corlis,
the Archduke of Attitude, Adam Archer, the sinister Sam Kiker,
the Nightmare of New Zealand, noeh Leine Viavilli, the loathsome
(48:34):
Johnny Love, the carnivorous Kevin Bogie, the Killer Stud, Carl
Stab the fire Starter, Heather Carter, the conquer Christopher Damian Demeris,
the awfully awesome Annie, the murderous Maggie Leech, the ser
of Sexy, Sam Hackworth, the Evil Elizabeth Riley, Lauren hell Fire,
Hernandez Lopez, the maniacal Laura Maynard, the vicious Karen van
Vier and the arch Nemesis Aaron Bird, the sadistic Sergio Castillo,
the Rapscallion, Ryan Crumb, the Beast, Benjamin Whang, the devilish
(48:57):
Chris Ducett, the Psycho Sam the Electric Himily Jong, the
ghoulish Girt Hankum, the renegade, Corey Ramos, the crazed Carlos,
the Antagonist, Andrew Park, the monstrous Mikhaela Sure, the witchy
wonder JP Weimer, the Freiki, Ben Forsyth, the barbaric Andrew Berry,
the mysterious Marcella The Hillacious, Kale Hoffman and pug Borb
the Poulter guys. Yes, folks, that's right. If you want
(49:20):
admittance into the Promised Land, just go to patreon dot
com slash creep Street Podcast for all sorts of goodies.
We got three different tiers over there, technically for because
there's a free tier. Go there. There's something for everybody.
Go check it out. We'd love for you to join
the inner circle of family there, folks. As always follow
us on all of our socials, you know, get in
(49:41):
some of those listener stories. Feel free to email us
or dm us on any of our socials. Our email
is Creepstreet Podcast at gmail dot com. Citizens of the
Milky Way. My name is Dylan Hackworth.
Speaker 2 (49:52):
And I'm Gage Hurley.
Speaker 3 (49:54):
Good nights and goodbye.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
Passtssts used to bust toss
Hi, I'm the Public Universal Friend. Welcome to Jackass.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey, I'm Bucket Q. Welcome to Jackass.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Today.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
We've convinced thousands of people that our friend Puff is
going to walk on water?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Can she do it?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
No?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Oh? Oh oh oh gonna oh oh no, that's gotta hurt.
Please please, someone listen to me.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Please, what troubles you, stranger?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
My daughter she's dying. Can someone please? Can Can the
Public Universal Friend please save our daughter?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hey, I'm the Public Universal Friend. Welcome back to Jackass. Today.
We've convinced a family with a dead child that we
can bring their daughter back from the dead. Can I
do it?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
No, Citizens of the Milky Way, my name is Dylan Hackworth.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
And I'm good Hurley.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
And you have arrived in the Cult of Creep Street.
That's right, folks, welcome. You've been hazed, and now you've
been accepted into the Cult of Creep Street where everybody
has a good time. We are gonna take it back
now to colonial USA. That's right. We are talking about
(02:17):
arguably one of the first cults, if not the first
cult in American history. Today's episode is the Cult of
the Public Universal Friend. Hmm, that's right. Let me indoctrinate
(02:38):
you with my source today, Passing Strange True Tales of
New England Hauntings and Horrors by Joseph Citrow, a source
we've used a few times of past episodes, but let's
go ahead and dip our toes into the calm, cool
waters of seventeen seventy six Colonial America. Ooh, a time
(02:59):
when muskets thundered in the distance and revolution rippled across
the colonies. And the little town of Ledyard, Connecticut, it
was making its own headlines, and it had nothing to
do with liberation from the British crown. The townsfolk were
flooding into Ledyard to witness something far more unsettling, something
(03:23):
that didn't belong to the world of politics, but to
the supernatural. A young woman declared dead had somehow impossibly
come back to life, and word traveled fast about this miracle,
even for this time when you know you couldn't just
text a friend, you know you up to tell them
(03:46):
about this miracle. But yet word traveled fast, and by
the time the curious arrived in town, most already knew
the tale, or at least they thought they did. Because
when a miracle shows up in your own backyard. The
question isn't only just what happened, it's also why now,
(04:07):
and what's still lingering in its wake. The woman at
the center of this fever dream, the so called miracle
in ledyard, was a gal named Jemima Wilkinson. She was
just twenty four years old at the start of our tail.
(04:28):
She was born in seventeen fifty two in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Jemima had been raised among the Quakers and was one
member of a large and devout Quaker family. But even
as a child, folks had a hunch that Jemima was
She was different. She stood out from the pack.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
She was not about those oats. She was all about
the pancakes.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
That's right, baby, forget those oats. She wanted cakes, And apparently,
according to the tail, she had those cakes. Baby, she
had them. She was said to be strikingly beautiful by
most accounts, but it wasn't her beauty that drew the attention.
There was something else, something off kilter. She was also
(05:14):
known to often be unwell, prone to spells of sickness.
She avoided housework like the plague, and likewise seemed repelled
by anything common or domestic, and she had an almost
obsessive aversion to dirt, as if grime itself offended her.
But where Jemima truly set herself apart was in the
(05:38):
matters of faith. While other children played, Jemima poured over scripture.
She studied Quaker doctrine, meditated on death, heaven, and the
afterlife with the intensity of someone who was near the
end of their life, not the vibrant age of twenty four.
By the time she reached young Adulthoodia i'ma Wilkinson could
(06:01):
quote chapter and verse as fluently as a seasoned preacher.
Her everyday speech became so saturated with biblical language, so
steeved in the King James Cadence that people often couldn't
tell where the book ended and Jemima began. She didn't
speak so much as she delivered proclamations, and while it
(06:24):
struck some as unnerving this young woman walking and talking
like a prophet, it would, in the years to come
become one of her greatest tools, because when the veil
between life and death end, Jemima would have no problem
stepping through it. Now in her teenage years, tragedy struck
(06:49):
Jemima's mother died giving birth to her thirteenth child. Give
it up to them Quakers, and give it up to
the eighteenth century, a staggering blow to the family that
left a permanent mark. Shortly after, the grieving Wilkinsons packed
up their things and left Cumberland, Rhode Island, settling then
(07:09):
in Ledyard, Connecticut. And it was in Ledyard that Jemima
really began to turn heads. On one hand, she was
the stuff of rumors due to her odd mannerisms and
her aloofness and holier than thou speech. To some she
was strange and to others unsettling. But to the local
(07:31):
young guys, Jemimah Wilkinson was spellbinding. With her dark hair
and commanding gaze and an aura of something just slightly otherworldly,
she stood apart from the other gals. She wasn't like
other girls, you know. She liked football, cussin playing video games.
She literally drove the boys crazy. Jemima she wasn't interested
(07:59):
in Chason boy. No matter how persistent, or how eligible,
or how flattering her suitors were, none of them stirred
her soul. She had eyes for something else entirely, and
soon it would come calling. Now by all accounts, Jemima
Wilkinson's path had already been set. Most who knew her
(08:21):
thought she'd probably just grow old there in ledyard, sickly, unmarried,
forever reciting scripture into the void. That is, until providence intervened,
because at the age of twenty four, Jemima fell gravely ill,
and then she died. Her family, hearts heavy with sorrow,
(08:46):
followed the custom of the day. They laid her body
out in the parlor, dressed and ready for mourning. Neighbors gathered,
offering prayers, kind memories, and the sort of respectful distance
deserve for a good Quaker death. She was placed in
a simple pine box and carried to the graveyard. But
(09:08):
just as they were preparing to lower her into the ground,
something happened. Someone stepped forward, asking to see her just
one last time. History is not sure if it was
family or a friend that asked this, nor is it
understood why the person wanted that one last look at
(09:31):
the body of the fair Jemima. Perhaps it was love,
for even suspicion, perhaps it was something else entirely, because
when the coffin lid was lifted, what they saw would
send a shock through the gathered crowd because Jemima Wilkinson, Oh,
she wasn't at her end. It was just the end
(09:54):
of Act one, baby, just the setup. That's right, it
was just the setup. She was about to go full
Andy Kaufman on their asses because instead of a cold,
lifeless face, they saw color in them cheeks, her eyes
wide open, and then the miracle, Jemima Wilkinson sat up.
(10:21):
She wasn't gasping, nor was she disoriented. She simply rose
up and stepped out of the coffin like it was
no more than climbing out of bed, kind of like
the Undertaker after a close three count, just shoots up.
You think he's down, damn. And thus she began to speak,
(10:41):
not in terror or confusion, but with prophecy. She spoke clearly, calmly,
and with the cadence of scripture. At the moment of death,
she said she had been visited by two archangels descending
from the east. She's described them as wearing golden crowns
and were clothed in long white robes that reached to
(11:05):
their feet. She described them not with awe, but with certainty.
Whatever had happened in that grave, Jemima Wilkinson seemed to
have crossed a threshold, and she didn't come back alone.
She was said to have proclaimed, yes, I have passed
(11:25):
through the gates of a better world, and I have
seen the light. Oh. And then came her vivid and
detailed testimony, which, considering the miracle before the eyes of
the onlookers, was disturbingly persuasive. She spoke of heaven, not
in metaphors or parables, but as if she had literally
(11:46):
toured the streets of gold herself. She described it with
clarity of memory, not imagination. She said the angels had
given her a mission, a divine charge. She had not
merely returned life. She had returned transformed, and from that
day forward she was no longer Jemima Wilkinson. She had
(12:08):
been chosen to become this second Redeemer and her purpose
to begin the moral regeneration of the world, and her
resurrection was only the beginning. In light of her miraculous
resurrection and rebirth, she revealed that the divine powers who
sent her back to the world of the living had
(12:31):
done more than just restore her life. They had given
her a new spirit, the soul that had once been
Jemima Wilkinson, she said, was gone, laid to rest for good.
Within her now was something heavenly, something appointed. And with
this transformation came a decree. She was never again to
(12:55):
be called Jemima Wilkinson. That name belonged to the past,
to the woman who is initially laid to rest in
that coffin. From this moment forward, she was to be
known only as the Public Universal Friend. This was not
a title or even a name, really, but a mantle
(13:19):
borne by someone no longer claiming to be of this world.
The Friend claimed to be the embodiment of righteousness, and
her message was clear. She was no ordinary prophet. She
was being sent back with a purpose. And the clock
it started ticking. And what's interesting, maybe that was just
(13:43):
how they an old formal spelling of the word but
public is actually spelled lick public. But yeah, what a name,
the Public Universal Friend. Very interesting. Now today we might
try to explain such a claim away. We'd likely call
it a near death experience and chalk it up to
(14:06):
a hallucination brought on by the fever of death, or
maybe even label it as an elaborate hoax or some
desperate bid for attention or even for financial gain. But
in seventeen seventy six, in a time when religion shaped
reality and when angels and demons walked among humanity freely,
(14:27):
a return from the dead was heralded as a divine event. Naturally,
the local minister wanted answers, who were these angels, what
did heaven look like? What message had this friend brought
back from beyond the veil? So he asked if she'd
speak publicly at the church, and the friend readily agreed.
(14:51):
Of course, after all, this was the mission to be heard,
to be seen, and to call the world to account. Now,
as the story goes, when the friend, or the Puff
as we'll call her the Puff the PuF took the pulpit,
something about her shifted. She preached like one possessed, but
(15:16):
not by something dark, but by something radiant and unshakably
sure of herself. Those who came expecting to see the frail,
sickly woman that Jemima once was found instead a firebrand,
delivering sermons with a force that seemed to come from
somewhere else entirely, and her presence was something to behold
(15:41):
even for skeptics. There was no denying it. She was
striking and not just because of what she said, but
of course how she looked while saying it. As the
Marquis de barbe Marbeau observed with a mix of awe
and intrigue, quote, this soul sent from heaven has chosen
(16:01):
a rather beautiful body for its dwelling, and many living
ladies would not be unwilling to inhabit that outer shell. Yes,
the Friend didn't just command attention with her words and presence.
She was quite the looker as well, and it led
some to wonder if this really was a message from heaven,
(16:22):
why did it look so much like a temptation. Soon
word of this miraculous gal spread like wildfire through the
towns and back roads of southern Connecticut. People came from
miles around, some to gawk, some to believe, and some
(16:43):
just to satisfy their curiosity. Who wouldn't be drawn in
by tales about the woman who died and rose again,
calling herself the public Universal Friend. Men found her to
be an eye full, of course, that much was certain,
be it man or woman, though no one left without
getting an earfull as well, because the Friend came armed
(17:05):
with revelation, sharing everything the angels had told her They
promised her that she would live for a thousand years,
that she would rise to become the spiritual leader of
a new nation, the United States of America, not yet born,
but already watched from above. She was a prophet, a
(17:30):
vessel for God's words, a mirror reflecting a heaven few
had dared to imagine. Naturally, she was invited to pulpits
across Rhode Island and Connecticut, carrying her message of moral rebirth,
divine instruction, and a world being reshaped and God's people
(17:50):
being called to rise with it. And boy did people listen,
Because whether they loved her or feared her, almost everyone
believed her. The Friend spoke like someone who knew what
waited for them beyond the grave, with an unflinching certainty.
According to biographer Herbert Wisby, the public Universal Friend wasn't
(18:15):
just another charismatic voice in the pulp pit. Jamivin Wilkinson
or whatever had taken her place, seemed to carry what
Wisby called a messianic complex, a belief not only that
she was chosen, but that she was essential to the
world's moral rebirth, almost like a christ figure. According to Wisby,
(18:40):
that complex gave her an iron like self confidence so
unshakable it became magnetic. Pair that with her genuine sincerity,
and it made her a preacher that people couldn't look
away from. You didn't have to agree with her to
be pulled in. These sermons were nothing short of a
commander performance, with moments that felt like something was genuinely
(19:04):
piercing the veil being passed down from on high. Not
to mention, as we know, she was apparently a knockout,
which I'm sure helped. One day in East Greenwich, when
the Friend stood before a group of thirty five listeners,
she paused mid sermon and declared, one of you will
(19:26):
not live to see another day. The words dropped like
a ton of bricks. As you can imagine. She didn't
say it with a fluid passion or theatrics, just a
simple shilling promise, one that would shockingly come true. Sure enough,
that very night, just hours after the Friend's shilling prophecy,
(19:51):
a young boy it was a black servant, had been
seated in the audience, and he doubled over and died.
And he was young, like literally the age of a boy.
He was a boy. Naturally, some said it was coincidence.
Others even suspected foul plays, such as maybe poison. But
(20:13):
to many, it didn't matter how it happened, only that
the public universal Friend had spoken it and it had
come to pass.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Well, it kind of matters how it happened, right, Yeah,
and insane coincidence. But if poison was the reason and
it was her, then of course that would.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Matter, right. And of course it has to happen to
the poor servant, you know, it couldn't happen to like,
you know, some rich asshole you know.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Of course, yeah, he's a servant. He's just a child,
I mean.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Right, exactly, that kind of immediacy. The way life and
death seemed to follow in her wake only deepened the
legend surrounding her, and with that legend came loyalty. As
she traveled from town to town, the Friend began to
gather followers who were zealous, devoted, and utterly convinced of
(21:05):
her righteousness. They became known as the Jemimaites, and by
seventeen eighty the Friend in her growing flock, had settled
in New Milford, Connecticut. There they built their own house
of worship, a sacred space for her sermons and the slow,
certain shaping of a new spiritual order. The Public Friend
(21:30):
wasn't just preaching anymore. She was establishing a kingdom right
there in New England. Stories and rumors swirled around the
Public Universal Friend like a mist. She was a walking
reddit threat, with tales of her acts becoming stranger and
increasingly unbelievable. Most told of her gift of prophecy, of course,
(21:54):
and her uncanny ability to foresee events with eerie precision.
But more and more the tales turned from visions to miracles.
She wasn't just a mouthpiece for heaven anymore. She was
beginning to be seen as a living vessel of divine power,
more divine than disciple. And then came the moment that
(22:18):
would either seal her sainthood or shatter her. Following in Swansea, Massachusetts,
the Friend made a bold proclamation. As a demonstration of
her divine authority, she would replicate the feet of the
First Redeemer himself. This gal was gonna walk on water.
(22:43):
The announcement was made with an unflinching sincerity. The words spread,
and when the day arrived, they came by the thousands
from all around. Crowds gathered along the shores of Mount
Hope Bay, their eyes fixed on the water, waiting to
see whether this woman could defy nature itself. They came
(23:07):
seeking a sign, but what they got was something else Entirely.
The crowd fell into a hush as the friend emerged,
radiant and regal as ever, and robed in flowing garments
that shimmered in the sunlight like an angelic vision. She
stood before the thousands, gathered, her gaze sweeping over them
(23:30):
with a kind of solemn weight, and then came the haranguing.
She preached a fiery, relentless message, warning of sin, calling
on everyone to repent. Her proclamations filled the salty air
as the group listened with rapt attention, but everyone was
(23:51):
really there for the big show that was still to come,
the main events. Wrapping up her message, she turned, stepped
toward the water, and with all the confidence of a
chosen vessel of God, she stepped in. And then the
(24:13):
girl sank like a stump, just a splash of cloth
and flesh meeting cold reality, and with it came gasps,
laughter and open expressions of doubt. The crowd, whether they
expected her to actually walk on water or not, was shocked.
Dripping and furious, Jemima turned on them all. Her failure,
(24:37):
she declared, was their fault. The water hadn't held her
because of their skepticism, their mockery, and their lack of faith.
Radiating from the crowd, she stomped away, wet robes clinging
to her like a heavy shame. The Friend had come
to walk on water, but instead Gal went for a swim.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
I mean, it sounds a little bit like an excuse, like,
come on, guys, you distracted me with your skepticism.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely ahead, come on, but what are
you guys doing over here? You know, at least a
professional golfer gets the courtesy of some silence when they're
making their first drive.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
You know what I mean exactly.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
While not certain, it's doubtful that the public universal Friend
ever actually attempted the walking on water routine again. After all,
one very public sinking tends to make a second performance
hard to sell. But like all good legends, the tale
didn't die. It splits, multiplied, and morphed, taking roots in
(25:48):
different corners of New England, each telling shaded with a
slightly different truth. One alternative version ends not with soggy defeat,
but with a master stroke of spiritual theater. In this telling,
the friends stood before the crowd, robes, rippling eyes, a light,
and posed the question, not once, but over and over.
(26:12):
Do you have faith? Yes, we have faith. Do you believe? Yes,
we believe. Again and again. She drove the ritual forward,
working the masses into a frenzy of feverish unity. She
was doing crowd work for God's sake.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Just as she stood poised to step onto the water,
she paused, and one final time, she asked, do you
have faith? Do you believe I can do this thing? Yes? Sweet,
believe well. She held that moment a prophet standing on
the edge of the impossible, and then she smiled and
(26:55):
said that is good. If you have faith, you need
no evidence. And with that she gathered her robes, turned
from the bay, and walked away, dry as a bone, triumphant.
As ever, it didn't matter whether or not she could
perform the miracle. She already performed. The crowd baby played
(27:17):
them like a fiddle. But, as I said, that's just
one version of the story. I would be fucking pissed
if that was the version I got.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Yeah, I mean, that would be like showing up to
a WWE match, and like, do you guys believe I
could win this match? If you believe, I don't need
to actually.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Go through with it, right, right, You're not.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Gonna see the rock and undertake her tonight.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
That's right. Or it'd be like a band coming out
and be like you guys writing a rock to try. Yeah,
well that's good enough, because you know we could play
these songs if we wanted to, and then.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Leave, right, just show up and be like you remember
this hit? Yeah, you remember this hit song? Yeah, yeah,
I'm glad you guys enjoyed.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
And then there's a version that the skeptics tell. In
this version, the miracle was smoking mirrors. The friend's loyal followers,
wanting desperately to solidify Jemima's divinity in the eyes of
the masses, were said to have built a wooden walkway
that lay just beneath the water's surface at Mount Hope Bay,
(28:30):
invisible to the crowd. It would allow the Friend to
stride across the waves, appearing to defy the laws of
nature while quietly walking on faith and plywood. But legend
says the non believers, those who'd come not to worship,
but to watch or fail got wind of the plan,
(28:51):
and under the cloak of night, they removed a few
critical planks from the platform. So when the day came,
when the friend gets robes and stepped into the water
with all the grandeur of a divine emissary, she took
a few glorious dry steps and then suddenly sank, not
swallowed by divine mystery or unseen forces, but betrayed by
(29:14):
the absence of two by fours, and just like that,
the miracle unraveled. Now, I would say, even if you
got a few steps in, that's still impressive. It's kind
of like Wiley coyote when he runs off a cliff
and it's not until he looks down that he falls exactly.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
And now would makes sense that it was more of
a parlor trick planned it's I mean, we don't know, obviously,
there's multiple tellings here, but that one makes a lot
of sense that she was, that she had this plan,
and that somebody sabotaged.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
It right exactly exactly, Because then, like I said, it
leaves enough room for debate, because especially if the masses
don't see that there's a walkway, they might go, well,
she still did walk on water. Part of the way
like and then pelk, so it kind of gives ammo
for both sides. Ooh, just had to take a quick
(30:08):
pause there, creep Street, just to give your poor palpitating
hard arrest. If you're enjoying this episode, go ahead and
follow us on Facebook, Instagram at creep Street Podcast, Twitter
at creep Street Pod, TikTok at creep Street Podcast. That's right,
and if once a week is not enough for you,
just head on over to patreon dot com for all
(30:30):
sorts of goodies. We got three different tiers there, something
for every tier, so get your fixings. We even got
a free tier where you can listen to the weekly
sketches before they go live on the episode. Now, without
further ado, back to today's story. Just like that, though
(30:53):
the miracle unraveled, the illusion was shattered, leaving behind only
wet robes and doubt. It wasn't just her body that
took a plunge that day, it was her reputation and
her claim to immortality. And just when you thought the
stories couldn't get any stranger, there's another tale in which
(31:14):
the public universal Friend not only walked on water, but
aimed to outdo herself yet again, this time she would
attempt to raise the dead. The event was announced and
the date was set like a.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Pay per view, it's buffering again.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
A ha, yes, buffering indeed, buffering indeed, because what was
about to happen was batch in four k. The crowd gathered,
buzzing with anticipation and unease and the faint terrible hope
that they might see death defeated. The friends stood before them,
(31:54):
solemn and radiant, and beside the shrouded corpse. She prepared
to call the soul back from the beyond. And a skeptic,
had said, stepped forward. The friend stood before them, solemn
and radiant, and beside her was these shrouded corpse. She
prepared to call his soul back from the beyond. When
(32:16):
a skeptic stepped forward. He asked flatly if anyone could
verify that the body was truly dead, And then louder
so all could hear, he made an offer, let me
run it through with a sword, then we'll know. And
with that the miracle happened. The corpse sprang to its
(32:39):
feet and ran for its dang life. A very living,
very terrified person was said to have bolted through the crowd.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
It was like, I just got back, man, don't run
me through with.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
A sword, right exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
I'm getting a second chance here now.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Whether this was a staged miracle or not, one things clear.
The public universal Friend may have claimed to hold the
keys to life and death, but even she couldn't account
for a corpse that knew when to run. Next, enter
a man named Judge William Potter. He was a man
(33:17):
of prominence, wealth, and no small amount of pride. His estate,
called Old Abbey, was said to be the grandest in Kingston,
Rhode Island, a stately home fit for a gentleman of
the bench. But even privilege can't keep out death. As
we know, his daughter Susannah, had grown gravely ill. The
(33:41):
local doctors had tried everything from leeches to tonics to prayers,
but nothing seemed to be working. That's when the Friend arrived.
Radiant and competent, she promised the desperate mister Potter a cure.
Desperate and weary Judge Potter and his wife Penelope agree,
(34:03):
after all, what did they have to lose? But what
came next was something they could have never predicted. Because
the Friend didn't come alone. She brought her flock, the faithful,
fanatical followers, now known as the Jemimicans, they changed their
name from the jemima Heites to the Jemimicans.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Yeah, I guess it just had a better ring to it.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
Probably just a little easier to say Jamimicans. That sounds
like something you'd shouted, like when you're startled. Yeah, Jemimaicans.
And before the Potters could say no, well, gosh dang,
this whole group of Jemimicans moved in with them. Suddenly
the halls of old Abbey, once filled with the hush
(34:50):
of polite society, were alive with constant chanting rituals and
the drone of prophecy. The Friend had turned the mansion
into a temple, and the potters lives into a sideshow,
their home into a holy ground. And that's when, as
the old story say, all hell broke loose, because despite
(35:12):
all the incense and prayers and all the thundering promises
of divine favor, Susannah Potter died. Judge Potter's little girl,
his only daughter, slipped away under the same roof where
the puff and her followers had sworn she'd be saved.
(35:32):
But Jemima wasn't rattled in the slightest. Oh no, no, no,
Instead she simply pivoted. If she couldn't prevent death, well
she'd just have to rebse it. She told the grieving
Potters that she would bring Susanna back. It might take
some time. Of course, a miracle of that magnitude required patience,
(35:54):
but she had plenty. After all, she reminded them she
was going to live for a thousand years. Right. Well,
the Potters weren't immortal. They were heartbroken parents waiting for
the Friend to make good on her godly boast while
their daughter lay dead. Days passed, then weeks, and still
(36:17):
no resurrection. And, as one account puts it with devastating finality, quote,
the laws of nature were inflexible, and in the end
Susannah stayed dead, and the friends promise, like so many others,
never rose from the grave. Now, by the time the
(36:39):
Puff and her jemimicns were finally shown the door at
Old Abbey, she had done more than wear out her welcome.
She had lightened Judge Potter's pockets by thousands of dollars.
Oh and that wasn't the end of her divine fundraising efforts. No,
another miracle of generosity was just over ther Riyes, this
(37:01):
time from the state of Rhode Island itself. While she
and her followers were staying overnight at the home of
the state treasurer, something curious occurred, let's call it a
mysterious transaction. A not so insignificant sum of money somehow
made the holy leap from the state treasury directly into
(37:23):
the coffers of the public universal friend, and apparently the
Good Lord commanded a heavenly redistribution of wealth to the faithful.
It was further proof of her divine favor. To the skeptics, well,
they called it theft with flair either way, Jemima never
(37:43):
claimed to be bound by earthly bookkeeping. When you walk
with angels, the rules of man don't always apply. Well,
it wasn't long after that divine withdrawal that rumors were
swirling that showed the tide was turning against the so
called prophet tests. So the puff made a decision. It
(38:06):
was time to go out west. Faith in New England
was waning, and the whispers of doubt were growing louder
than the hymns. But there were plenty of lost souls
still out there and somewhere out west. The next chapter awaited,
So she did what any self proclaimed messiah would do.
(38:27):
She summoned her Jemimicans, who prepared for her a well
padded easy chair, something fit not just for travel, but
for something like a royal procession. Painted loud and proud
and a little absurd, it bore her holy initials p
U F emblazoned on both sides, like a seal of
celestial royalty. She climbed aboard, and the Jemimicans lifted her high,
(38:53):
carrying their profit tests like a living arc of the Covenant,
and off they went, marching westward towards the promised land
of Upstate New York, a land where the soil was
fertile not just for crops, but for dough eyed believers,
a place where prophets, seers and spiritual revolutionary seemed to
(39:15):
sprout like weeds. And in that wilderness of believers and
would be saviors, the puff would stake her final claim.
But fortunately for the Friend, the Lord's ledger was flush,
or at least her coffers were. Between the donations and
the disappearances of state funds and the unwavering devotion of
(39:36):
her followers, she made more than enough to finance her
next divine endeavor, and so, with pockets full and a
sense of purpose blazing within, she purchased land in the
wide open wilds of upstate New York, where she founded
what she called her quote little Jerusalem. It was a
settlements and a sanctuary, her own kingdom carved from the wilderness,
(40:01):
where she could preach, prophesy and reinvent herself one last time.
There she presided for the rest of her days, no
longer the scandalous firebrand of New England, but something softer
and more tame time as a way of standing off
the edges, and in her later years, the Friend was
(40:21):
remembered not for her failed miracles or flamboyant titles, but
for something gentler. She became known as a sincere, kindly
and even benevolent woman, a preacher and shepherd to her flock,
and a mystery to everyone else. She may have started
as Jemima Wilkinson, a sickly, self educated Quaker girl with
(40:44):
no formal power or standing, but she became the first
native born woman in American history to found her own
religious society. That alone places her in rare company such
as Universalist John Murray and Shaker visionary Mother Anne Lee,
the public Universal Friend, stands as one of the three
(41:06):
great religious trailblazers of the Revolutionary era. She didn't come
from money, and she wasn't simply handed a pulpit or platform.
But somehow, through sheer, conviction, charisma, and a dose of
divine drama, she drew to her side a following that
was ironically wealthier and better educated than she herself ever was.
(41:30):
And not only did she preach, she let a whole
flock physically and spiritually into the primeval American wilderness, a
landscape as untamed as her theology. And there, in a
clearing cut from the forest and faith, she built Little Jerusalem,
a place meant for her faithful and where the ordinary
(41:51):
rules bent. Somehow, this average young woman in colonial America
was able to lead men and women alike towards something
stranged and to something sacred. At least to some, she
may have walked away from her own name, passed, and
according to some the laws of nature. But more than anything,
(42:12):
Jemima Wilkinson carved out a new identity, one bold enough
to outlive her and weird enough to be remembered to
this day. As Herbert Wisby so aptly put it in
his biography of the Friend, quote, Jemima Wilkinson deserves to
be ranked with the small group of outstanding women of
(42:32):
the colonial period. And he's right. She was more than
a preacher. She was a disruptor. Even if it was
all bullsh you do have to hand it to her.
She claimed authority where none were granted and built a
movement when most women weren't even allowed a voice in
the pulpit, let alone a kingdom of their own believers.
(42:57):
She named herself a new declared death beaten, and envisioned
a life that would last one thousand years. And sure
that part didn't quite pan out. In the end, Jemima
Quote left time, as her followers would later put it,
in eighteen nineteen, at the age of sixty seven. Not
quite eternal, but not bad for someone who had already
(43:20):
died once before. So whether you believe she was truly
touched by the divine or simply one of the boldest
religious showmen in American history, one thing is certain. The
public Universal Friend may be gone, but she still lives
in legend, and legends, as we know here on Creep Street,
have a funny way of never staying buried kind of
(43:44):
like Jemima herself, and that will wrap it up for
the public universal friend. Now, I called it the cult
because in way it was now there wasn't you know
what we usually associate with cults, especially ones we cover
(44:04):
here on Creep Street, as far as we know, the
violence or anything like that. And I'm assuming people were
able to come and go if they wanted to. Maybe
the financial aspect, if people were like giving their life
savings over something that might be obviously a more cult like.
But yeah, like the sources said it regardless if it
(44:25):
was all bullshit, like, for a woman in that time
to claim the respect and authority she had was really impressive,
even if it was all bullshit.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Absolutely, it's very unique in that way. And she seemed
like a very ambitious person because you know, to me,
I definitely leaned towards she was a religious showman, but
especially considering all the things that she predicted that didn't
come to pass. But right, that still doesn't make it
any less impressive. Like you said, I mean, she clearly
(44:56):
had ambition, yeah, and was successful.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
Yeah, absolutely, I mean, honestly, probably if she was born today,
she might have been like a movie star. She had charisma,
she had looks, she was able to deliver, I guess,
almost like a performance in a way, like was able
to give a very earnest when she was preaching, as if,
you know, she seemed to actually believe it herself. She
(45:21):
might have been a big movie star or something like that,
you know, if it was today.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Which also I wonder, I'm sure she probably faked her death.
If indeed all of this is bullsh then that initial
resurrection was probably staged somehow, you know.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
I thought about that too, and part of me wouldn't
be surprised if see, because back then they used to
put bells on tombstones with strings that would go down
to the coffin because people were actually somewhat fairly often
buried alive, because if you were in a state of
you know, if you were in a coma or something
(46:02):
like that, you might, by all accounts, appear dead. And
because they don't have ways of monitoring the heartbeat or
you know, especially if it was very faint or whatnot,
it was very often that this sort of thing happened.
You heard of people like suddenly sitting up in their
coffin and whatnot, because they weren't actually dead. So you
might be right, You might be right that it was
all fake, or it might be a case of that
(46:24):
where they truly thought she was dead and you know,
it was basically on the fence of being dead and
then maybe came to right.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
That's a good point, very possible. And then if that
had happened, she could have conceivably said to herself, I'm
going to take advantage of this reputation, I'm going to
use this as an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (46:43):
Right, because she might have seen herself as coming back
from the dead as well, and that might have helped
install that sense of conviction, because I'm sure like part
of her, even if she knew she could walk on water,
part of her really had to believe that she was
touched by God. I wouldn't be surp if she believed
it herself to some extent if that was the case,
(47:04):
If she was essentially on death's door and then made
that recovery and believed herself to have been dead, So.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Yeah, she could have genuinely believed it. You're right. Imagine
she was in some sort of a calm or something.
She snaps out of it. She's probably convinced that, yeah,
this was something divine.
Speaker 3 (47:22):
Yeah, yeah, And you know, of course we will never
know for sure, but it sounds like at least she
wasn't violent with her group, or there wasn't like weird
as far as we know, like weird sexual stuff or
anything like that going on that you hear so often
about in cults. But very fascinating, I mean, truly in
a weird way, your American story. If someone coming from
(47:44):
nothing and rising to the top rags to riches, that's right, absolutely,
and it makes you wonder did she convince that state
treasurer guy from Rhode Island to give her the money
or was there like a little bit of yeah, bit
of hanky hanky going on?
Speaker 2 (48:00):
How did she get that money? Who knows?
Speaker 3 (48:04):
Interesting? Interesting, indeed. But I'll tell you what, Gage, I
got a list of names I wouldn't mind building the
New Jerusalem with.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Oh yeah, who's that?
Speaker 3 (48:13):
The names of our top tier Patreon subscribers, of course,
The Dream James Watkins, the Finished Face Via Lungpus, the
Madman Marcus Hall, the Tenacious Teresa Hackworth, the Heartbreak Kid,
Chris Hackworth, Theoso Swave, Sean Richardson, the notorious Nicholas Barker,
the terrifying Taylor lash Met, the Count of Cool, Cameron Corlis,
the Archduke of Attitude, Adam Archer, the sinister Sam Kiker,
the Nightmare of New Zealand, noeh Leine Viavilli, the loathsome
(48:34):
Johnny Love, the carnivorous Kevin Bogie, the Killer Stud, Carl
Stab the fire Starter, Heather Carter, the conquer Christopher Damian Demeris,
the awfully awesome Annie, the murderous Maggie Leech, the ser
of Sexy, Sam Hackworth, the Evil Elizabeth Riley, Lauren hell Fire,
Hernandez Lopez, the maniacal Laura Maynard, the vicious Karen van
Vier and the arch Nemesis Aaron Bird, the sadistic Sergio Castillo,
the Rapscallion, Ryan Crumb, the Beast, Benjamin Whang, the devilish
(48:57):
Chris Ducett, the Psycho Sam the Electric Himily Jong, the
ghoulish Girt Hankum, the renegade, Corey Ramos, the crazed Carlos,
the Antagonist, Andrew Park, the monstrous Mikhaela Sure, the witchy
wonder JP Weimer, the Freiki, Ben Forsyth, the barbaric Andrew Berry,
the mysterious Marcella The Hillacious, Kale Hoffman and pug Borb
the Poulter guys. Yes, folks, that's right. If you want
(49:20):
admittance into the Promised Land, just go to patreon dot
com slash creep Street Podcast for all sorts of goodies.
We got three different tiers over there, technically for because
there's a free tier. Go there. There's something for everybody.
Go check it out. We'd love for you to join
the inner circle of family there, folks. As always follow
us on all of our socials, you know, get in
(49:41):
some of those listener stories. Feel free to email us
or dm us on any of our socials. Our email
is Creepstreet Podcast at gmail dot com. Citizens of the
Milky Way. My name is Dylan Hackworth.
Speaker 2 (49:52):
And I'm Gage Hurley.
Speaker 3 (49:54):
Good nights and goodbye.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
Passtssts used to bust toss
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