St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-04-23

formed them that the BODY OF Jemma
Wilkinson had been dead, but was
now terminated by the spirit of
Jesus Christ; that her soul was
then in heaven; that this was the see
ond coming of the Lord: than an in
qniry had been made in heaven, who
will 20 preach to dying w0rld?' and
she had answered: Here am 1. Send
me-" She had been allowed TO choose
whether she should be taken back to
heaven bodily at the end of ten days. OF
remain on earth thousand years. Al
the end OF ten days she informed her
friends that she had been elected to re-
main on earth and preach thousand
years, and that the tabernacle she ill
habited would never die.
Began Preaching.
The foregoing is but 1.-THE of the i'm
pudent and sacrilegious assertions made
by this wicked woman. Some OF her
friends were veXed, others intimidated,
while ii majority believed her to be de-
ranged mentally rather than physically.
No one believed her pretensOnS or that
she would perSevere in them any length
OF time. and they were all certain ii was
the very same Jemima they had
known from infancy. The next Sab
bath she went to meeting, and after the
services were over Jemima walked to
the shade OF tree and commenced
preaching. From this time she contin-
ued to preach whenever opportunity Of
fered, and was particular to make as
many opportunities as possible. She
soon made proselytes. but was not
cOuntenanced by any of those who ad-
hered to the old forms of the religion of
the QuakerS.
Her reception was extremely unfavor-
able both in Philadelphia and New
York, and people deemed her either
fool, enthusiast or trickSter. This she
called persecution, as it was favorable
to her ultimate yisws. The number Of
her followers increased, and she was
confident they would become still more
numerous. She accordingly proposed
to some of the wealthieSt and most in
fiuential that they should flee from
those regions of intolerance and perse-
cutiOn and settle in a place where there
was no opposition to the Divine will.
Many of them had become so
entangled in doubtful transactions in
connection with Jemima that they were
glad to accede to her wishes, and the
fertile country about five miles west of
where Penn Yam is located. in Yates
county, New York, was selected as the
Land OF Promise" They were prom
ised by treaty three tracts of land, each
containing 5000 acres, to which Jemima
Immediately gave the name of Jeru-
salem. There were i'll all about fifty
families who settled there. and who
were made tributary to her support.
Takes New Name.
AS soon as she commenced to obtain
proselytes she dropped entirely the
Of InDpivno Wilkinson oaIInd
herself 1.-The Universal Friend of Man.
kind" Common sense rejects the idea
that she could have actually forgotten
her origin or her large family of broth
erS and sisters. She must also have
known that she did not possess the
power of discovering the thoughts Of
others. healing the sick or raising the
dead. Strange and UnaccOuntable as
1t may seem she persisted in her
pretensionS to the end of her life, and
in her will no mention is made of any
of her kindred, although several of her
sisters followed her into the wilderness,
lived, died and were buried within sight
of the spot on which was built Jemi-
mas mansion. Here she passed her
days in idleness and luxury. Whenever
she wanted anything belonging to one
of her followers she compelled him to
pay tribute by saying, The Lord hath
need of this thing" often seriously in
convencing the comfort of his family by
reSigning property or money to Jemi-
mas Unsuitable cupidity. 5o
Her followers were not allowed to
marry, and those already married before
joining her society were forbidden to
bear children. This mandate was not
always adhered to, and the cuipi it's
were lectured sOundly for their DISC
bedience. When persons were not cured
she attributed it to their want of faith.
Her clothing and linen were marked
with the letters l III. S. Jesus Homi-
nun Salvatore. Her dress was modified
after the pictures of the saints and
apostles found in old Bibles, and
very broad-brimmed black beaver hat,
with a low, fiat crown. surmounted "a
head covered with black glossy curls.
Her portrait, now III possession OF a
resident of Penn Yam, represents
and beauty. The richest Satins, the
finest muslins, the purest linens were
used for her clothing, and she preached
poverty and the resignation of all
earthly possessions. 1t was notorious
fact that she preached while her follow
ers practiced.
Her Death.
Her death occurred in July, 1919, at
the advanced aged of siXty-eight. An
ticipating this event she told her follow
ers that she would not be separated
from them, but would rise again on
the third day." They accordingly robed
her in her usual apparel and left her
lying on the bed where she breathed her
last. The weather being warm, it was
found absolutely necessary to remove
the body to compartment i'll the cellar
to await the third day. Failing to
rise" as they confidently expected,
and the body becoming more Of
fensive, her devoted followers built
stone vault not far from the house. and
here the remains were deposited with
the door open; this for the convenience
of the body should 1T happen to resur-
rect in the night and desire to return to
the house. In the course of years the
vault crumbled and the vault crumbled
and the coffin commenced to decay, when
new vault was built near the old one.
The vast estate of the universal frieDd''
finally passed into other hands and the
bones were placed in box and buried
in the family burying ground. There
they now lie, waiting the final resur-
rectlon.