Not Your Founding Father: How a Nonbinary Minister Became America's Most Radical Revolutionary

by Nina Sankovitch

A thrilling celebration of a forgotten early American renegade, Not Your Founding Father reconsiders just how radical the American experiment could have been.

Early in the morning of October 9, 1776—in the small farming community of Cumberland, Rhode Island, in a house surrounded by cherry trees—twenty-three-year-old Jemima Wilkinson died, and the Public Universal Friend was born.

Old Cherry Wilkinson’s children had already gained a reputation for scandal. Two of his boys had been dismissed from the local Quaker meeting for joining the colonial militia, and one of the girls was expelled for having a baby out of wedlock. Now, here was another Wilkinson child, riding about the countryside, claiming to be a genderless messenger of God.

Yet something about the Public Universal Friend set war-ravaged New England ablaze. The young minister seemed to embody the possibilities offered by the new nation, especially the right to total self-determination. To authorities, however, the minister was “the devil in petticoats,” a threat to the men who sought to keep America’s power for themselves.

And so the Public Universal Friend ventured west to create an Eden on the frontier, a place where everyone would have the right to not only life, liberty, and the pursuit happiness, but also peace and shared prosperity. But into every Eden comes a snake. And soon, financial scams, contested wills, adultery, plagiarism, allegations of murder, and murmurs of another war with England would threaten to destroy this new American utopia.

Genres: Nonfiction

400 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication January 20, 2026

About the author

Nina Sankovitch is a bestselling writer, avid historian, and voracious reader. She can be reached via Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, and on her website, www.ninasankovitch.com.

Reviews

[Dale Dewitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long, meandering and not very engaging. There was too much time spent trying to make land deals and lawsuits interesting. The Universal Friend never seems to be overly persecuted for her beliefs like other early American sects like the Mormons, instead she seems to have been accepted or at least tolerated by most, leading to a relatively uninteresting story. While having a female who was able to make her way in Colonial america and gain followers is an interesting story this book is bogged down in too many asides to keep the reader interested.

I was given an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

[Kylee Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up in the Midwest with zero familial ties to the northeast US, the story of Public Universal Friend was brand new to me, and I'm so glad I came across this book! Even though I am not particularly religious, the story of this gender-nonconforming, self-proclaimed prophet was such an intriguing look into the early history of our country as it was still trying to figure out what exactly our nation would stand for. At a time when the recently signed Declaration of Independence, declaring the unalienable rights of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" for all, was being turned on its head after it served the purpose of moving a population to fight for their freedom (with slavery continuing, a return to regressive roles for women, and the focus being on that all "men" were equal and therefore the only ones guaranteed these codified rights), there were those who held on to these beliefs of equality and liberty for all, and worked to build their vision of a better society in the newly independent country.

Public Universal Friend was one of those people, preaching for redemption of souls while also encouraging followers to free their enslaved people, allowing women to preach and hold leadership positions, and fostering commune-style living where land was held for the common good of all in the group, and their home was always open to those who needed a safe place to lay their head and find community. However, the author also did the work of showcasing that even such societies, striving for equality, were still only able to be built upon the absolute suffering and destruction of the Native American populations that were slaughtered and pushed out of their ancestral lands. While Public Universal Friend may have been more empathetic towards the indigenous people than others in this time, they were not perfect in their stances on equality and still made the tragedies of these peoples something that they could build success upon. I appreciate Nina Sankovitch not shying away from this difficult aspect of USA's history.

Sankovitch did stellar research, tracking down and notating primary sources throughout to catalogue the experiences of the Friend's society, and was careful to always clue the reader into when thoughts were their own speculations based on these sources, rather than trying to claim things that are impossible to know for certain as truths. This book is filled with details and evidence, but was able to still keep a narrative structure that kept the pages turning quickly, rather than feeling overly dense like a textbook.

Ultimately, as our country feels more and more divided by different interpretations of what America "should" be, the community built by the Friend is a shining light of what America could be: freedom and equal rights for all, shirking archaic gender-normative roles and expectations, and coming together for the good of the group to support our neighbors and build community together. I highly recommend this read to those interested in LGBTQ+ figures in history, 18th century and revolutionary history, or even those just interested in historical fiction who want to venture into more non-fiction titles.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster, Nina Sankovitch, and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

[Alix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super engrossing, super timely biography of the Public Universal Friend. I am neither religious nor an 18th century historian, but I loved how this book was constructed and will definitely be recommending it throughout the United States 250th birthday year and beyond.
The Public Universal Friend is not a very famous historical figure, but is relatively well known in the northeast -- I learned SO MUCH that was brand new to me. The Friend was a self-identified prophet of God who left the Quaker church and built a new following of devotees. It was fascinating to learn how the Friend interacted with the politics and religious teachings of the late 18th century.
The author is careful to avoid speculation on details like the Friend's relationships, and was also clear about what the historic record confirmed versus what the sources suggest. As a professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies, I also really appreciated the way the author included Indigenous perspectives and considered how the development of the frontier in what we know today as upstate NY -- from which the Public Universal Friend and followers benefited -- depended on the death and displacement of Indigenous people.
Certainly recommended to fans of 18th century history and biography, but also for fans of historical fiction -- like if you liked J. Courtney Sullivan's The Cliffs, you'll like this.