Editing Public Universal Friend (section)

== Early life ==
Wilkinson, who would later become the Public Universal Friend, was born on November 29, 1752, in [[Cumberland, Rhode Island]], as the eighth child of Amy (or Amey, née Whipple) and Jeremiah Wilkinson,<ref name="Jemimah" group="lower-alpha">Some older texts use the spelling ''Jemimah Wilkinson'', see e.g. those quoted by Moyer, p. 101 and pp. 106–108 or Wisbey, p. 93.</ref>{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|p=3}}{{sfn|Moyer|2015|p=13}}<ref name="hudson">{{cite book
| first = David
| last = Hudson
| author-link = David Hudson (New York politician)
| title = History of Jemima Wilkinson: A Preacheress of the Eighteenth Century; Containing an Authentic Narrative of Her Life and Character, and of the Rise, Progress and Conclusion of Her Ministry
| year = 1821
| publisher = S. P. Hull
| location = [[Geneva, New York]]
| url = https://archive.org/details/historyjemimawi00hudsgoog }}</ref>{{rp|11–12}} becoming the fourth generation of the family to live in America.{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=2–4}} The child was given the name Jemima after [[Jemima (Bible)|Jemima]], one of the biblical [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]]'s daughters.{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=2–3}} Wilkinson's great-grandfather, Lawrence Wilkinson, was an officer in the army of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] who had emigrated from [[England]] around 1650<ref>''New York Folklore Quarterly'' (1955), vol. 11, p. 22</ref> and was active in colonial government. Jeremiah Wilkinson was a cousin of [[Stephen Hopkins (politician)|Stephen Hopkins]], the colony's longtime governor and signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=2–4}} Jeremiah attended traditional worship with the [[Society of Friends]] (the Quakers) at the [[Smithfield Meeting House]].{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=2–4}} Early biographer [[David Hudson (New York politician)|David Hudson]] says that Amy was also a member of the Society for many years,{{r|hudson|p=9}} while later biographer Herbert Wisbey finds no evidence of that, but quotes [[Moses Brown]] as saying the child was "born such" because of Jeremiah's affiliation.{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=2–4}} Amy died when Wilkinson was 12 or 13 in 1764, shortly after giving birth to a twelfth child.{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=2–4}}{{sfn|Moyer|2015|pp=13–14}}

Wilkinson had fine black hair and eyes,{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=24–26}} and from an early age was strong and athletic,{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=2–4}}<ref name="Lamphier-Welch-331" /> becoming an adept equestrian as a child, remaining so in adulthood,{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=2–4}}<ref name="Lamphier-Welch-331" /> and liking spirited horses and ensuring that animals received good care.{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|p=53}}<ref name="New-England-Galaxy York-State-Tradition">''The New-England Galaxy'' (1961), vol. 3, p. 5; ''York State Tradition'' (1968), vol. 22, p. 18.</ref> An avid reader,{{efn|name="shun-name-but-literate"}} Wilkinson could quote long passages of the Bible and prominent Quaker texts from memory.{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|p=5}}{{sfn|Moyer|2015|pp=13–14}}<ref name="Lamphier-Welch-331" /> Little else is reliably known about Wilkinson's childhood; some early accounts such as Hudson's describe Wilkinson as being fond of fine clothes and averse to labor, but there is no contemporaneous evidence of this and Wisbey considers it doubtful.{{r|hudson|pp=11–12}}{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=2–4}} Biographer Paul Moyer says it may have been invented to fit a then-common narrative that people who experienced dramatic religious awakenings were formerly [[profligate]] sinners.{{sfn|Moyer|2015|pp=13–14}}

In the mid-1770s, Wilkinson began attending meetings in [[Cumberland, Rhode Island|Cumberland]] with [[New Light Baptists]] who had formed as part of the [[Great Awakening]] and emphasized individual enlightenment,{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=7–8}} and stopped attending meetings of the Society of Friends {{endash}} being disciplined for that in February 1776 and disowned by the Smithfield Meeting in August.{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=7–8}}<ref name="Not-using-You">''Lend a Hand'' (1893), volume 10, § ''Jemima Wilkinson'', p. 127.</ref><ref name="NEG-Thou-again">''The New-England Galaxy'' (1961), vol. 3, p. 7</ref>{{sfn|Moyer|2015|p=67}} Wilkinson's sister Patience was dismissed at the same time for having an illegitimate child; brothers Stephen and Jeptha had been dismissed by the [[Pacifism|pacifistic]] Society in May 1776 for training for military service.{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|pp=7–8}}{{sfn|Moyer|2015|pp=15,40}} Amid these family disturbances and the broader ones of the [[American Revolutionary War]], dissatisfied with the New Light Baptists and shunned by mainstream Quakers, Wilkinson faced much stress in 1776.{{sfn|Wisbey|2009|p=9}}{{sfn|Moyer|2015|p=18}}