Full Breakdown
Revisiting Revolutionary-Era Figures: Public Universal Friend and Capt. Austin Roe
5/26/2026, 11:52:13 PM
Public Universal Friend: A Nonbinary Prophet of the Revolution
In October 1776, 23-year-old Jemima Wilkinson survived a severe illness in Cumberland, Rhode Island. The survivor declared a new identity—Public Universal Friend—and began preaching a message of self-empowerment, equality, and salvation. Over the next decade the minister founded the Society of Universal Friends, attracting “hundreds of men and women” who pledged to ideals of equality, piety, and love.
The minister’s gender-nonconforming dress—long dark robe, white cravat, and unadorned hair—prompted immediate backlash. Contemporary observers labeled the figure “the devil in petticoats” and condemned the appearance as “improper” and a threat to social order. A Quaker from Philadelphia warned that such “immodesty in a woman…would go far to confound the distinction of the sexes.” In response, Friend asserted that personal attire was “nothing indecent or improper… I am that I am,” emphasizing agency over external judgments.
Official commentary of the period includes Ezra Stiles, president of Yale, noting the minister “dressed like a man,” and other clergy who recorded the controversy without endorsing the critique. The minister’s sermons, typically an hour long, concluded with promises of eternal bliss for faithful followers.
Capt. Austin Roe: Culper Spy Honored in Patchogue
Captain Austin Roe (1749-1830) served as a courier for the Culper Spy Ring, transporting intelligence across British checkpoints. Historians credit him with a 60-mile horseback delivery that warned colonial forces of a planned British assault on the French fleet at Newport, Rhode Island. After the war he returned to building trades, contributing to local infrastructure and founding a family legacy in Patchogue.
On April 19, 2026, the Greater Patchogue Historical Society rededicated a bronze marker at Cedar Grove Cemetery honoring Roe’s service from 1775-1783. The ceremony attracted roughly 100 attendees, including descendants, DAR, CAR, SAR members, and state officials. A replica 1861 Tarrott cannon was fired, and Third U.S. Infantry Regiment soldiers marched with muskets.
County Executive Ed Romaine highlighted the event as a reminder of the “Midnight Ride” tradition, while treasurer Steve Lucas explained that the marker, believed stolen about five years earlier, had been recovered from an antique sale in Center Moriches and secured in a marble slab by Fricke Memorials. Historian Mark Sternberg described Roe as “a craftsman (specifically a joiner…) who made windows, tables, chairs, even coffins,” and emphasized his “essential link in the chain” of Revolutionary intelligence.
Why These Revivals Matter
Both narratives illustrate how contemporary scholarship and public commemoration reassess the diversity of Revolutionary contributions. Friend’s gender-nonconforming ministry expands the understanding of early American radicalism, while Roe’s restored marker reinforces the importance of local intelligence networks in achieving independence. Together they underscore a broader effort to integrate marginalized voices and overlooked actors into the national memory.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
The source on Friend carries a reliability rating of 40 %, and provides only qualitative estimates of follower numbers (“hundreds”). Details of the exact size of the audience at the first sermon are absent. The Roe story lacks precise dates for the marker’s theft and recovery, noting only “about five years ago” and “about three years” of possession by the historical society. No dissenting perspectives on the rededication ceremony are recorded.
Verbatim Quotes
- “dressed like a man.” — Ezra Stiles, President of Yale and Congregationalist minister
- “ Another observer wrote that the minister had “so much like the dress and appearance of a man, that I conceived it to be very improper.” — Unnamed observer
- “[t]here is nothing indecent or improper in my dress or appearance; I am not accountable to morals, I am that I am.” — Public Universal Friend
- “We think the bronze marker was stolen about five years ago,” — Steve Lucas, Treasurer, Greater Patchogue Historical Society
- “Paul Revere rode one night,” he said, “Austin Roe did it several times.” — Ed Romaine, County Executive
- “He was a craftsman (specifically a joiner, a type of woodworker) who made windows, tables, chairs, even coffins,” — Mark Sternberg, Historian
What’s Next
Future research may clarify the size and composition of the Society of Universal Friends and locate additional primary documents on Friend’s ministry. The Cedar Grove marker’s placement ensures ongoing public awareness of Roe’s espionage role, and local groups plan annual commemorations on April 19 to align with the historic Battle of Lexington and Concord.
