The wealth of the Potter family of Rhode Island was considerable. Judge William Potter had inherited a large landed estate there. The Judge was born at South Kingston, Rhode Island in 1722, and was married about 1750 to Penelope, daughter of Colonel Thomas Hazard. Penelope was also born in South Kingston--in 1731. Their children were:
1. Sarah
2. Mercy b. 1751
3. Thomas Hazard (MD) b. 1753
4. Alice b. 1756
5. Susan b.l758
6. William Robinson b. 1760
7. Benedict Arnold b. 1761
8. Penelope b. 1764
9. William Pitt (called "Pitt") b. 1766
10. Edward b. 1768
11. Simeon b. 1770
Judge Potter served as a senator in the colonial legislature, and in 1775 was elected by that legislature Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in Washington County. He resigned from the latter post in 1780.
It was around the time Judge Potter resigned that he became profoundly
interested in the ministry of a woman 36 years his junior. She
was called the "Universal Friend." On her account he
would travel on many religious expeditions, riding beside her
on horseback, followed on foot by an impressive column of adherents.
And for her he would spend much of his fortune and heavily mortgage
his estate.
Jemima Wilkinson was born in Cumberland, Providence County, Rhode Island in 1758. Her father, Jeremiah, was a farmer moderately well off, who married Amy Whipple, a member of the Society of Friends. Jemima was reared a Quaker but possessed only casual religious interests. However, during her teenage years she became involved with a group of young Quakers who advocated that God makes a more direct affect on the world than current doctrine admitted. She never officially joined the group but attended all the meetings, conducted by the evangelizing Methodist George Whitefield. And Jemima began a routine of sitting for hours every day studying the Bible, becoming increasingly morose. She finally locked herself in her room for extended times interrupted only by the attending of meetings. Her health began to fail and in 1776 she became bedridden.
Friends of the family sat with the young girl day and night as she wrestled with the unknown ailment. Occasionally she told of seeing scenes from heaven as if she viewed them firsthand. Miss Wilkinson eventually slipped into a complete trance which lasted 36 hours. The people attending were alarmed as she seemed on the verge of death. Then one day the girl awoke. Upon rising from her bed, the young lady told that the spirit of Jemima Wilkinson had passed to the "angel world," and that her body was re–animated.
The Universal Friend, as she called herself from that day, traveled and preached in a number of eastern states, collecting many followers. Her preceding reputation for working miracles helped win confidence in her movement. And its momentum accelerated. Among her most wealthy and powerful adherents were James Parker and, above all, Judge Potter. These two men pumped their energies, support and resources into the sect to aid its growth and further its purpose. Judge Potter built a new section onto his Rhode Island mansion to be the Friend's home and headquarters. Ironically, Parker and Potter later became instrumental in the movement's decline.
While the Universal Friend and her entourage traveled the eastern seaboard, Jemima Wilkinson's youngest brother Jephtha was exploring the Genesee country in New York. He explored much of the Lake region--assisted by Indians--drawing maps and writing descriptions. It has been proposed that his descriptions provided the spur which led to the area's further exploration, and its eventual settlement by the Friends. In 1789 a survey was made of the area by Perley Howe, and by 1790 seven families lived in township eight of the second range. These were the families of Francis Briggs, Michael Pierce, Benjamin Tibbits, Henry Lovell, John Walford, William Hall and (Benedict) Arnold Potter.
Benedict Arnold Potter, named after the great 17th–century governor of Rhode Island, dropped the use of his first name after the Revolutionary War. Arnold, his father, and some brothers became interested in the Genesee country and began buying land. Their interest was augmented by a vision held by the Universal Friend. She wanted to find a place where her followers could live unsullied by outside influences.
It was decided at a meeting in Connecticut in 1786 to send several men into the wilderness of New York in search of a place for the envisioned utopia. A deed was signed on October 10, 1792 for 14,040 acres of land in Ontario County (later to be severed from that county when Yates County was formed). The area was later nicknamed the "Potter Location." As part of the agreement with New York's governor George Clinton, the society promised that within seven years there would be one family located on each 640-acre section of land. So the followers began to sell their homes and property and move to the new Jerusalem.
In keeping with the promise to Governor Clinton, the following handbill was issued in 1800. It could have been in response to this advertisement that the Casners left New Jersey and settled where the Seneca, Cayuga and Keuka lakes predominate.
FOR SALE, ON REASONABLE TERMS, About 16,000 Acres of Land, Situate
near the centre of the flourishing settlements of the Genesee
Country, in the town of Augusta (commonly called Potterstown),
and county of Ontario. On this Tract are a number of farms of
a superior quality, some of which are under improvement. Said
lands will be sold in small parcels or large tracts, as best suits
the purchasers, for ready pay, or on credit; great allowance made
to those who make immediate payment. There are two saw–mills
on these lands and a good grist–mill, commodiously situated
for Southern market; there being only twelve miles land carriage
from grist–mill to the waters of the Susquehanna, which lead
to Baltimore, one of the best flour markets in the United States.
For further particulars enquire at the dwelling house of the Subscriber
on the Premises.
AUGUSTA, Nov. 24, 1800 ARNOLD POTTER
(Printed by L. Carey, Canandaigua.)
The Friend's movement began to wane almost before the new settlement was established. A major factor was that the sect's premise rested on socialistic, even communistic principles regarding society, property and wealth. It was quite radical for the time and soon rubbed its wealthier constituents against their grain. Also, according to the consecrated formula, their ideal of perfection dictated that members be "neither marrying nor giving in marriage," and that "those who had wives should be as though they had none." The Friend thus surrounded herself with widows, old maids, and women who had abandoned their husbands and families, and these made up the central core. Among the elite were the widow Sarah Richards--the Friend's "prime minister"--and Rachael Malin.
The Universal Friend was the sponsor of what has been called a "millenarian" movement, meaning that its devotees viewed the world as if they were standing at the end of time. This "end" was to have been brought about by the victory of good over evil, God over Satan, and of Christ over the antichrist. The followers were prepared to give witness to the great things attendant to the return of Christ to earth.
The fatal blow came when a feud erupted between James Parker and Judge Potter over the disposal of land purchased by the joint action of the society. Soon the Judge withdrew his support from the Friend and her cause, taking back the land he had vested. His wife Penelope, however, remained faithful to the movement for the rest of her life. Returning to Rhode Island, the Judge sold his mortgaged estate there and returned to New York, where he spent the remainder of his life with his son Arnold. Judge William Potter died in 1814 at age 92 while returning from the home of his son–in–law George Brown in Jerusalem, N.Y.. At one time the Potters had owned about 55,000 acres of land in Yates County--the equivalent of 86 square miles, or more than one–fourth of the entire county.
The Universal Friend died in 1819, leaving a divided sect whose
property was left to the trusteeship of Rachael Malin. By the
time of Rachael's death in 1848, little of the society's land
remained and virtually none of its vitality.
Last modified: Thursday March 30, 2006
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