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A colonial American claimed to be reborn — and abandoned both name and gender.It was October 1776.Jemima Wilkinson, battling "Columbus fever" (historical nickname for typhus), was nearing death from a fever and was said to go into a coma.Over the next few days, Wilkinson miraculously recovered.But something was different about them.Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wilkinson said they were reincarnated by God and resurrected to become a prophet to warn people about the apocalypse, according to the Washington Post.More importantly, Wilkinson was not Jemima Wilkinson anymore.Instead, Wilkinson rejected not only their name, but the concept of gender.Wilkinson was now the Public Universal Friend, or The Friend — rejecting gendered pronouns and the name Jemima Wilkinson.As society's understanding of gender has broadened, historians and scholars have looked at the life of the Public Universal Friend through a new lens and understanding of how large of a role they had on gender and identity in the early United States.The Public Universal Friend has also become a bit of a phenomenon on social media platforms like TikTok in which videos have racked up hundreds of thousands of views.Want more New Haven Register?Born in Cumberland, Rhode Island in 1752 to a Quaker family, The Friend's religious awakening occurred when they were only 23-years-old.Dressed in androgynous clothing, The Friend first traveled throughout Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts to evangelize before broadening to New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.The Friend was known for quoting Bible and Quaker writings without the need for a Bible or text.Stories about The Friend's trips through Connecticut are scarce though there are mentions of The Friend establishing a meetinghouse in New Milford, according to Britannica.Advertisement Article continues below this ad Those who followed The Friend quickly became part of what was known as the Society of Universal Friends.The group's major tenants — which were similar in scope to the Quakers — stressed equality, abolition, sexual abstinence and non-violence among other topics.The group experienced much backlash, especially in the city of Philadelphia, where locals threw sticks and bricks at the home where The Friend was staying, according to the Washington Post."Critics accused the Friend and his followers of a range of heinous deeds, including blasphemy and fraud, while those who came to their defense portrayed them as devout, godly people.No matter if it damned or praised them, this commentary has some common features," reads an excerpt from the Museum of the American Revolution about The Friend's work in Philadelphia."Rather than focusing on the Universal Friends' creed, it centered on their appearance, dress and demeanor.In addition, it habitually juxtaposed these observations against accepted forms of male and female deportment." In 1788, the group arrived in Yates County, N.Y., where they established a settlement called Jerusalem.By 1790, there were 300 members, according to the Yates County Historical Center.The group developed the area and in 1819, the Public Universal Friend died.Followers waited to bury the body in hopes of a second resurrection that never came, according to the New York Public Library.Advertisement Article continues below this ad Following The Friend's death, the group began to slowly fall apart until it ceased operation in the 1860's.The Public Universal Friend's life outside of gender norms — long before the word "nonbinary" emerged — makes them pivotal to gender studies history."The Public Universal Friend is the closest hard evidence we have to someone in the 18th century who identified in such a way as being genderless.They considered themselves to be of no gender," Meg Bowersox of the Museum of the American Revolution wrote in 2025.Advertisement Article continues below this ad "So, while other people's stories like Baron Von Stueben and Deborah Sampson have more ambiguity, I'd say this is the closest to someone identifying in the way nonbinary people do today," Bowersox continued.