#She-Intelligencers

[hope-ur-ok]

Just casually texting my mom about which mine reports I'm unable to find online

[tsckcyomi-archived]

She sprawls across a couch with an undignified groan. Oh, how glad she is that the festive days are coming to an end soon.

[jarognieva]

no fucking awoo. no awoo right now. its late. its not awoo time. its sleeping time. go the fuck to bed.

[londonsfinestscientists]

Lodgetember Day 11: Ms. Flowers!

Ms. Flowers is the Entomologic Intelligencer of the society. She deals with insectoid automatons, which do things from light spy work, to sending messages, to carrying explosives.

She has dark skin, black curly hair, and green eyes with dark eye bags. She wears a dark collared green dress and a striped green hat, along with white gloves. She seems to have more of a shy, awkward personality.

Tag your posts for her with #LodgetemberFlowers and #Lodgetember24 so we can easily see them! Also, reminder that you can continue to post from previous days, and that these lodger prompts aren't just limited to art! feel free to just talk about them, share headcanons or fics, stuff like that!

more images of her can be found under the cut!

[justa-moth]

dead boy detectives as that one the onion article

(she would totally joke about having prophesized it)

(shes wanted to make this joke for years)

(she does still needs her rent money)

(i totally didn't just make this entire thing bc of this one)

(they're proper intelligencers!)

(textposts i've done!) pt 1 - pt 2 - pt 3 - pt 4 - pt 6 - pt 7

[mariacallous]

@stephantradez thought he was going to be fine. In his first TikTok about Hurricane Milton, he vowed to stay at his Tampa apartment. In a follow-up video, he said the media was “rage-baiting” everyone into thinking the storm “was going to be some catastrophic thing” but that it wouldn’t be that bad “as long as you can swim.” Late Wednesday night, he posted another video saying that he thought he’d survived but then lost his power. “This is so much worse than I expected,” he said while pointing the camera out the window of his home, showing the destruction from several floors up. Thursday morning, he posted a video saying he’d survived, adding “They have to ban hurricane’s at night, that was the most stressful thing I’ve ever been a part of.”

I attempted to reach the creator through TikTok and Instagram DM, but got no response. @stephantradez, though, was one of many people who kept posting on TikTok, and other social media platforms throughout the storm, despite, as the warning on one of the creator’s videos noted, “participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.”

When Milton made landfall Wednesday night local time in Sarasota, it was a Category 3 hurricane. As it traversed Florida, it took the roof off of Tropicana Field, left millions without electricity, and killed several people. It also became the subject of TikToks with millions of views, and, according to a report in Rolling Stone turned the platform into “a hellscape of people staying in Hurricane Milton’s path for clout.”

While it’s true that some people likely stayed, and kept posting, because there was nowhere for them to go, others definitely seemed to be sticking around in an attempt to keep attention on their feeds. Rather than a hellscape, it became a demonstration of the best and worst of TikTok.

For every mom getting told to flee the storm’s path even as she explains that she can’t afford to, there’s someone saying they’re in an evacuation zone but sticking around while also offering up sports betting tips.

Then there’s Caroline Calloway. The influencer and author, who lives in Sarasota, drew the ire of the internet when she posted on X “where there’s a Callowill, there’s a Calloway” and said she wouldn’t be leaving her home, even as officials were stressing the importance of evacuating. (“You are going to die,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned anyone who stayed put.) In an interview with New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, Calloway said she was staying to check on elderly neighbors, adding that her sense of humor is just “very dark.” On Thursday, she apparently sent a text to Intelligencer’s writer with a picture of herself and her cat with the message “I lived bitch.”

All of this wouldn’t feel so dystopian if the US—and the world—wasn’t hurtling toward a scenario when social media platforms, particularly TikTok, weren’t becoming a lot of people’s go-to news source. Even as Anderson Cooper braves the storm to give CNN viewers updates on Milton, a new report from Pew Research shows 52 percent of Americans who are on TikTok regularly get their news there. Not from media outlets, but from influencers and content creators.

While these accounts may be relying on reports from traditional outlets when they deliver news, their posts are “probably interspersed with a lot of very non-traditional content—like skits, funny dances or promotional content,” Aaron Smith, Pew’s managing director of data labs, told Axios. On-the-ground reporting from influencers, then, becomes mixed with entertainment. Watching it, or, admittedly, writing about it, feels like missing the point.

[sassenach77yle]

BORN, to Captain Roger MacKenzie of Fraser’s Ridge and his lady, a girl, on the twenty-first of April. Child and Mother are reported in good Health, the Child’s name given as Amanda Claire Hope MacKenzie.

FROM L’OIGNON–INTELLIGENCER, MAY 15, 1776

Amanda it's latin "she who is loved."

Season 7 episode 2 “The Happiest Place on Earth”

[heyanobody]

BENEDIKTA HARMAN

Having emerged from the storm of youth coldhearted and ruthless, Benedikta Harman—Dominant of the Eikon Garuda, Warden of the Wind—turned her talent for swordplay and subterfuge into a command of Waloed's elite intelligencers. It is on a mission to find the elusive second Eikon of Fire that she crosses paths with a like-minded Clive and is forced to face her past.

FINAL FANTASY XVI [ 6 / ∞ ]

[tsckcside]

BENEDIKTA HARMAN - Having emerged from the storm of youth coldhearted and ruthless, Benedikta Harman — Dominant of the Eikon Garuda, Warden of the Wind — turned her talent for swordplay and subterfuge into a command of Waloed's elite intelligencers. It is on a mission to find the elusive second Eikon of Fire that she crosses paths with a like-minded Clive and is forced to face her past.

[meteorstricken]

Unsolved Mysteries of the Realm

This post details several matters in FFXVI that remained unsolved or obscure, and therefore could play into DLC that does not simply add details to the past, but carries the story forward. This is *not* meant to serve in any way as a critique of so-called "missed opportunities"--just an exercise in curiosity and anticipation. Feel free to reblog with anything I might have missed, but please keep it positive.

And of course, be mindful of the load of spoilers below the cut if you haven't made it through the story.

>Behold, Leviathan the Lost! Or rather, this seems to be the fandom consensus about what the odd figure off the coast of Sanbreque is supposed to be. The supposed Eikon of Water appears as though frozen in time, and is notably named similarly to Titan Lost--the form Kupka took as a giant tentacled mountain. I think it's important to remember what exactly Eikons are, so I've included the late-game lore entry here. My theory is that, since Ultima is the only one we truly see exercise an extensive amount of space/time magic, they might have been responsible for freezing Leviathan, and that their passing might release it from that hold, making it a problem. That said--this might serve as a last ditch preservation mechanism for Ultima themselves.

>Are we truly done with Mothercrystals? Based on the 8 elements and 8 Mothercrystals known in game, the answer would seem to be yes, but if you speak with Jill when she's seated at the Tub and Crown prior to heading for Origin, she wonders if there could indeed be more. If there are more, then we need to start talking about unaspected magic such as Flare and Ultima (the spell). If they're not a subset of Dark aspected magic, space/ time/ gravity magic is another set that might prove worthy of their own Mothercrystal. Holy is another one, if it's not counted as part of Light aspected magic. Again, it should be noted that if these are magic types used most heavily--or in some cases, exclusively--by Ultima themselves. If there are hidden Mothers out there, he/ they are not likely as finished as advertised, and the existing lore does seem to suggest he's fond of having quite a number of failsafes to fall back on.

>Reverie II, or Ultima's Rosarian Penthouse. It has no formal name, but this towering structure appears to be a conspicuous twin to Reverie in Waloed, and possibly in better external shape besides. Early on in the game, on the way to Phoenix Gate, Clive questions what appears to be the entrance, found in a Blighted area called The Dim. Later on, if you hang out around this door, Torgal becomes agitated and begins to growl. I tested just hanging out in other random places in Storm with Torgal, and it did not produce quite the same effect. Torgal really, really does not like this door. However, as it stands, we never get to take a peek inside--a prime opportunity for a DLC environment. What horrors and wonders might lurk inside?

>"True Freedom? Or something else entirely...? Once Origin has appeared, if you talk to the defected Waloeder Intelligencer referred to simply as a "Suspicious Character", he says what's depicted below. (He's confirmed to be an Intelligencer if you talk to the Gaoler at the right point early in the game, while still working out of Cid's Hideaway.) This guy keeps on top of everything going on, tends to joke or comment rather darkly on it, and admits at one point that old habits die hard--that in essence, he's been continuing to spy on you for his own entertainment. By this late point in the game, it's well understood that Waloed has been under Ultima's clandestine control for many years, so it's rather glaring that this particular character would say something like this. What does he know? What does await after Origin? I personally am of the opinion that Clive made a huge mistake in absorbing Ultima like he would any other Eikon, and that he may in fact turn out to be possessed. That would certainly rank as "something else entirely", and make for quite the compelling trip as far as a DLC plot goes. Clive is always saving everyone else--mayhap it's time he needs someone to save him from 'himself'.

On a related note, I think it's significant that Clive is shown at the end of the game to have developed the Crystal's Curse in spite of supposedly having eradicated Ultima's legacy. This may be a more complicated matter than he expected, as one might even argue that humanity itself is part of Ultima's legacy. Potential future DLC may involve cleaning up/ managing the complications of Clive having used a power he didn't fully comprehend.

>What's Out There? A great deal of factors influencing Valisthea occur outside the Twins' shores. Context clues from early conversations with Harpocrates suggest a land not as steeped in magic, but at the same time, later lore on the Children of Dzemekys reveals that the outer continent plays host to the Circle of Malius. (Ultima's faithful.) During the side quest "Trading Places II", when Eloise is trying to buy and free Bearers from the Silverpeak Consortium, she is outbid by a trader from the outer continent. One of the Consortium members notes that continentals are notorious for treating Bearers very well in comparison to Valisthea. This becomes even more interesting in light of some additional detail shared online from the FFXVI artbook, which suggests that Ultima's intended world order ranks Bearers as superior to normal humans--meaning a Circle of Malius adherent from the outer continent would want them treated considerably better. (Which in turn suggests that the persecution of Bearers is 100% mankind's home-brewed BS, despite how badly it transpires in Waloed.) But if the more distant Circle of Malius adherents have been buying up Bearers, what exactly is their end game? What plots and machinations could there be cooking across the sea, and might DLC delve into them?

[shimmerbeasts]

The sound of Vi’s voice, sharp and defiant, echoed in Camille’s ears like the persistent bark of a dog straining against its leash. Camille stood in the shadowed alcove, arms clasped behind her back, the soft hum of her hextech heart and the blue glow of her eyes the only reminders of her proximity. Her expression remained unchanged as she patiently waited for Vi’s taunting bravado to spat into the silence. Only then Camille stepped forward, her sharp blades clicking a precise staccato against the floor. The girl’s restlessness was expected, even anticipated. The fire in Vi’s eyes was both her weakness and, if guided properly, her strength. “You mistake this intervention for indulgence,” Camille started, her voice low and calmly detached. Despite the usual insolence, it was not irritation she felt — emotion would serve no purpose here — but rather the sting of unmet potential. Vi was a tool, still rough-edged, wielded by passion when precision was needed. "Sometimes discipline must simply be reinforced."

She paced closer, her gloved hand moving to rest on Vi's head, almost tender in its touch. “Efficiency, Vi,” she continued, speaking slowly each syllable, as if she was talking to a particularly slow-witted child. “Your strength is squandered when governed by impulse. Discipline is what separates the reckless from the indispensable.” With deliberate slowness, she slid her hand to the back of Vi's head. However, the softness of her gesture was fleeting; she tightened her grip, pulling Vi by the hair and forcing the girl's gaze upward to meet her own. "You failed, child," Camille's voice was cold, tinged with disappointment. "An entire compound reduced to rubble, yet your target still draws breath. I spared you from the squalor of the undercity, gave you purpose when others would have let you rot. Yet, you choose chaos over precision." Vi’s mission had been a catastrophic failure, and now the whole of Piltover was whispering about it. A hextec factory now lay in ruins and Jinx was still alive, mocking them from the shadows. Worst of all, the public had taken notice, questioning the enforcers' competence. Camille couldn’t afford to let this fester. The fractures in their reputation were already widening, and if left unchecked, they'd fracture the fragile order she’d worked so tirelessly to build. The next mission had to be flawless — no more room for mistakes. Failure was not an option, and she would see it through herself. "I have indulged your defiance until now. But an unruly dog serves no purpose — it thrashes blindly, oblivious to consequence, and ultimately seals its own fate." Her gaze softened, but only just. "I am safeguarding you from the gravest threat you face — your own self-destructive nature." Camille’s fingers loosened their hold on Vi’s hair, slipping away as she straightened, her expression as impassive as carved marble. She stepped back, the clink of her metal heels echoing on the floor again. With a subtle flick of her wrist, she signaled to one of her enforcers to release Vi’s restraints. "You’ll be back in the field soon," Camille declared, her voice carrying an unmistakable finality. "But this time, you're coming with me. You need direct oversight." Her eyes narrowed, steely and unwavering. "There will be no errors. And no witnesses."

The hum of the Hextech heart and the piercing ice-blue eyes announced the presence of the intelligencer of Clan Ferros before she made herself known. The sharp, rhythmical pattern of Camille's knife-like legs cut into Vi's head. Smouldering, dark green eyes met the icy gaze - passion crashing like a revolt against the cold precision and elegance, Camille had tried to force into her pupil, slave since day one.

Certain secrets were best guarded close to the heart, and this relationship was one of them. It was easier to make Caitlyn believe that she had been the first Piltovan, outside of an Enforcer, whom Vi had ever met in Stillwater. Camille Ferros had met her at least three years before Caitlyn. When Pink and Baroness had become enough of a problem for Stillwater. Camille had strongarmed Vi into this arrangement. Sometimes, she wondered if it was any better than supporting Caitlyn gassing her home town. Maybe the young Zaunite had already descended down the darkness on the other side of the river.

Vi grunted in pain and discomfort as sleek, black-gloved fingers found purchase in her magenta hair before they suddenly bent her head backwards and forced her gaze to meet the woman, she had been forced to call her benefactress for the last few years in secret. Her scalp burned from where her hair was being pulled and the muscles in her neck strained. Vi gritted her teeth. Her hands bucked against her shackles, but it was useless. The Zaunite had to sit there and listen to Camille tear into her.

Right. That fiasco at the Hextech factory. Half a building collapsed to smithereens. The moment the fighting had knocked out several support beams, nobody could have salvaged that room. Vi could still hear Jinx's cackle as she escaped while Violet had been left behind in the rubble with the dust settling around her and people whimpering and screaming in pain if they were not death silent. And all the while, Vi had to confront herself with the one fact that even Caitlyn was accusing her of: No matter how much Vi claimed she wanted Jinx dead or behind bars, she did not seem to fight with her heart in it.

"And I told you that fights among Zaunites have the habit of becoming notoriously messy and chaotic", Vi defended herself, though in her heart she knew this was just an excuse, "I didn't choose chaos, Camille. The fight just turned out that way."

Camille's hand finally let go of her head, not after its owner forebodingly told Vi that as an unruly dog, she needed a firm hand to guide her. The mere claim that she was doing all this for Vi's own good in an attempt to safeguard her from her self-destructive nature was absolutely ridiculous. It was not the first time that she played with the thought of yanking those perfect, sharp legs off Camille's hips and shoving them down her throat. Even when working for someone from Piltover, it seemed her Zaunite violence never fully left her.

The moment the Enforcers unshackled her, Vi sat up more straight. Brushing her fingers against her wrists, she was more focused on checking herself for bruises and cuts than really paying attention to what Camille was telling her. Hearing that familiar tone of finality, Vi gave a sigh of defeat. Her stomach dropped at the prospect of having to perform the next mission under Camille's relentless gaze. She bowed her head in respect and bitterly murmured: "Yes, Madam."

@steel-shadow cont. from here.

[krewssleuth]

# _ this is the crime kitchen after all.

ib:: their video (i work at a criminal kitchen) content:: murder, crimes, illegal stuff, it isn't as dark n very generic soo note:: first post let's go! (btw i'm still working on a better post design) help why was this so good?! why do 2am works turn out better than when i'm fully awake. also, i need to find proper ages for them to make it make sense.

The Killer ; Painting Rainbows

- An infamous 'alien hunter' in the community. Lunar knew of her as the head honcho in dealing of illegal items. Rainbow then got in touch with Funneh and thus got hired.

- She used to work at the sandwich store until the owner was arrested. Rainbow wasn't arrested due to the government wanting to hide the truth of aliens existance. She also harvests organs which are mainly hearts but doesn't tell how she got them so as to not get anyone else in trouble for her crimes, which I find pretty sweet (Rainbow being sweet is a canon event!)

The Knockout ; Golden Glare

- A fashionable ex-model, now hired at the Sandwich Store due to her ties with Rainbow. Gold knew her from school as Rainbow was called a 'lunatic' for believing that aliens exist. She didn't mind Rainbow as she found her quite 'normal' and understanding when it's just them two.

- She bought her fame, until one day her manager threatened to expose her. The man has helped her too much and demanded a higher pay. Gold being the greedy woman she was, declined and her manager launched at her with a knife. She was able to kill him out of defence, still traumatised by her actions, yet craving for more. The ex-model served her years for manslaughter, then losing her popularity.

The Mastermind ; Funneh Cake

- A young, avaricious money launderer who continued the business out of fun. Funneh hired Lunar, slowly bonding over time. After Funneh bought the place, she had Lunar and Draco invest in the Sandwich Store. She did find it strange that Gold and Rainbow wanted to work there but didn't question it much.

- She found out about the place from rumours that the place had 'aliens'. The thing that truly caught her interest was guns; a popular illegally-bought item. Who on Earth would buy alien bodies or human hearts? Some Science geek who is unafraid to get arrested? Funneh later got in touch with Draco, a man who could cover up their tracks when needed.

The Mule ; Lunar Eclipse

- A blood-thirsty money mule who knows too much about the dark web. Lunar had searched far and wide for quick cash, for unknown reasons. She was only a few years younger than Funneh, deciding then to be her money mule.

- She started off buying illegal items off of the dark web then selling it to classmates and schoolmates, making sure to make profit. She then crossed paths with Funneh while dealing in an alleyway, until Funneh hired her. Lunar found it strange but wanted the money, and since then they have become two peas in a pod.

The Silencer ; Draconite Dragon

- A quick-witted intelligencer that will do whatever it takes to protect his co-workers. Draco met Funneh through the heads of their respective crime families. She found him useful to the team, while he found her and the group interesting. Almost like he knew them, for a long a time. As though he had talked to them every day, had shared great memories with them, lived happily with the team of five.

- Draco is often at a nearby bar or library, eavesdropping on any information that the police knows about him and the others. He would of course report back to Funneh on anything urgent, not wanting to kill off too many people but still, he makes sure to get rid of any person that could risk the group's lives. The four women were very important to him. He never knew why but will never question his heart and soul.

[ Dyaa M_'s LOG Ended. ]

[thislovintime]

Photos by Henry Diltz, Richard E. Aaron, © LIFE/Shutterstock, and Nurit Wilde. (Photos 4 & 5 are from the “Heart and Soul” video shoot.)

For Father’s Day. Thoughts go out to Peter’s kids.

“I was never inherently afraid of my situation. When I found myself in a boardinghouse with my daughter in a room for twenty-five dollars a month, sleeping on a mat on the floor, I was not discouraged. I had already made my connection with my source.” - Peter Tork, When The Music Mattered (1984)

“[Hallie and Ivan] go to an alternative school locally. We [Peter and Barbara Iannoli] decided on it because it’s a place where if the kids wanted to do something they can insist on it. My kids have whale watching classes where they rent a boat and go and watch whales. I have never seen it, but they tell me it is a transcendental experience.” - Peter Tork, Evening Standard, July 26, 1983

Rosie O’Donnell: “You think you’re a good dad or do you…?” Peter: “No, actually, I’m not a very good, no, not as a good as I want to be. But then, I don’t know any dad who is, so...” Rosie: “That’s true, that’s true. I’m sure you do very well.” - VH1, late 1988

“Tork’s children don’t think of his celebrity one way or another, he said, although they wish their father had a more private life. ‘They take the bitter with the sweet,’ he said adding that he’s just Dad ‘in large measures.’ His 26-year-old daughter is pursuing a teaching degree. His 20-year-old son is a drummer in a reggae band
. ‘I am so impressed with him that way,’ Tork said, pride evident. ‘I wish he’d put his back to it more; he’d get more out of it, but you can’t tell someone something like that. They learn from what you do, not what you say.’” - Intelligencer Journal, July 19, 1996

Peter Tork: “David [Crosby] let me stay there for most of a year. It was sort of by way of interest on the loan I gave him to buy his boat, and I stayed there with my, with my then-girlfriend, and our daughter was born in that house.” Q: “In the house?” PT: “In the house, yeah, live, at-home birth —” Q: “On purpose or you just…?” PT: “That’s right, at-home birth, yeah, that was what we wanted.” Q: “(to Peter) [The second radio host is] expecting a baby. His wife.” PT: “Yeah? Cool! Oh, man. Oh, yeah? Excited, aren’t you? His eyes just brightened up, it’s great.” - GOLD 104.5, 1999

Q: “You have good relationships with your kids?” 
Peter Tork: “Yes, I do.” Q: “Oh, cool.” PT: “Very good. [...] [O]f my two daughters, the adult daughter says that she has a better relationship with me than any of her friends have with their fathers. It’s a good thing for us, and I hope that the others aren’t catastrophic. Because otherwise, it means (laughs), otherwise it’s small praise. But, you know, yeah, we’re doing fine, it’s wonderful.” - WDBB, February 2006

“[After his first cancer surgery, says Peter] ‘I couldn’t chew anything for a month. I was drinking my dinner — lots of milkshakes.’ It also took time for Peter to fully get back the power of speech. ‘For months, I was speaking with a lisp,’ he says. ‘It was a matter of me learning how to get my tongue under control again. I did my vocal exercises and the doctors decided I didn’t need speech therapy. It was a tough time but my daughter, Hallie, was a real support to me.’” - Daily Mail, August 16, 2011

From about the 8:36 min. mark, Peter speaks about Hallie and Ivan (who was in the audience) in this portion of The Monkees on People Are Talking in 1989; also featuring a tour anecdote about Ivan from Davy.

[quillandsaber]

Can someone explain to me this FF16 timeline problem?

From my wiki-reading it looks like Mid was born in 862 on the Outer Continents, where Cid is originally from. But also per the wiki, Cid was already in Valisthea in 860 to meet fifteen-year-old Benedickta, and in 863 he was in Waloed specifically to swear to Barnabas (since Benedickta was with the Royal Intelligencers when she was eighteen). Did Cid travel back to the Outer Continents with Benedickta between 860 and 862? Are the dates and ages wrong? We're led to believe traveling to and from the Outer Continents is an extremely dangerous and time-consuming prospect, so that sounds like an awful lot of travel.

(But for a little moment of cuteness, take the time to imagine Cid and Benedickta showing up in front of Barnabas...while Cid's holding baby Mid with the arm that isn't holding Benedickta's hand, radiating pure Girl Dad energy.)

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Larry Ray: The Sex Cult Leader

Larry Ray first met the college students through his daughter, Talia Ray, in September 2010. At the time, Talia was a sophomore at Sarah Lawrence and lived in a large dorm named Slonim Woods 9 with seven other students. Ray moved in with his daughter in the dorm after he was released from prison, where he served time for a custody charge related to his children. Talia claimed (and told other students) that her father was imprisoned for “heroically” trying to save her sister and herself from her “abusive mother”.

Ray quickly solidified a relationship with the other students living in the dorm by cooking dinners and ordering deliveries. He would also give them “therapy” sessions under the guise of helping them with psychological issues

Soon Ray targeted a young student named Isabella Pollok, who was going through a break up. Ray began sleeping in her dorm room and even convinced her to stay with Talia and himself in a one-bedroom condo in New York City during Sarah Lawrence’s winter break in 2010.

Later, Ray convinced three more Sarah Lawrence students–Daniel Levin, Claudia Drury, and Santos Rosario–to live in the same condo with Talia, Isabella, and himself during the summer of 2011.

Ray would later be accused of "sexual and psychological manipulation and physical abuse," by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a Department of Justice press release. The press release claimed that Ray used tactics like "sleep deprivation, psychological and sexual humiliation, verbal abuse, threats of physical violence, physical violence, threats of criminal legal action, alienating the victims from their families, and exploiting the victims’ mental health vulnerabilities."

In April 2022, Ray was charged with racketeering, sex trafficking, extortion and other charges. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to Intelligencer. His trial was postponed multiple times due to medical emergencies,

During his trial, several survivors testified against him. Claudia Drury testified that Larry coerced her into prostitution in order to pay off a "debt" that he convinced her she owed him. Over four years, Drury alleged gave him around $2.5 million.

He was sentenced to 60 years in prison by Judge Lewis J. Liman on January 20, 2023

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

An insider's view of the Public Universal Friend

By Jonathan Monfiletto

A person identifying himself or herself only as “A Neighbor” and writing in the National Intelligencer newspaper, from Ontario County, New York on August 24, 1819, apparently had an insider’s view of the life of the Public Universal Friend and may have been present at the Friend’s death on July 1, 1819. Published from 1800 until 1870, the National Intelligencer was the first newspaper published in Washington, D.C., covering events around the nation’s capital and capturing news across the United States of America. On August 21, 1819 – according to A Neighbor, as I have been unable to find digitized editions of the Intelligencer – the newspaper ran the Penn Yan Herald’s July 6, 1819 obituary for the Friend. And, A Neighbor wrote to the newspaper (at the time, Ontario County encompassed the northern portion of what is now Yates County) to dispute some of the facts of the Herald’s obituary as printed in the Intelligencer.

Calling the Public Universal Friend by their birth name of Jemima Wilkinson, the Herald noted the Friend died “on Thursday last” of dropsy, nowadays known as congestive heart failure, at age 66. The Herald went on to describe what purportedly took place in the Friend’s final moments: “She, a few moments previous to her death, placed herself in her chappel [sic], and called in her disciples, one by one, and gave each a solemn admonition, then raised her hands and gave up the ghost. Thus the second wonder of the western country has made her final exit.” A Neighbor, however, contradicted this version of events.

First, in his or her response, a letter titled “Of the Late Jemima Wilkinson” and addressed to Messrs. Gales & Seaton, A Neighbor noted the Friend did not die in Penn Yan but in Jerusalem, 12 miles from Penn Yan – according to A Neighbor – on the roads of the time. Using the Herald’s article, the Intelligencer may have used Penn Yan as a dateline on its article. From there, A Neighbor told a different story of the Friend’s illness and final moments: “She never had a chapel; I therefore conclude she did not exhort her disciples, one by one, in her chapel (emphasis in original) – but at her bed side, where she has for a year or more been confined most of the time by a most excruciating complaint; and where, on Saturday of each week, she collected the remnant of her followers, and exhorted them. Her complaint may have been a case of dropsy, but if so, it assumed very unusual symptoms.”

The Herald’s obituary stated, “Much curiosity has been excited since her departure. The roads leading to her mansion were for a few days after her death literally filled with crowds of people, who had been, or were going to see the Friend!” The Herald also noted the community had not yet learned whether the Friend would have a successor to lead their followers and whether the Society of Universal Friends would remain united without its head. The obituary described the Friend’s mansion – their third home in what is now Yates County, their second in the modern-day town of Jerusalem, and the only one still standing today – as “stands on a barren heath amidst the solitudes of the wilderness, at some distance from this settlement.”

A Neighbor differed on these statements as well: “Her mansion is on a hill – but not a barren heath – for the eye of man has rarely seen a more romantic and luxuriant prospect than is displayed from the Eastern front of this mansion. The roads leading to her dwelling are said to have been literally filled with crowds of people! This mighty concourse of people might possibly have amounted to 100 souls, including all her society and spectators, on the day that it was expected she would have been interred.”

A Neighbor claimed in his or her letter to have been a neighbor of the Friend for six years as well as a resident in the home of the Friend and the homes of their followers. In conversations with the Friend, A Neighbor attempted to understand their “peculiar tenets” and comprehend “a correct idea of her doctrines,” but this task was difficult because the Friend answered questions by quoting Bible verses and recounting their visions, “leaving me to draw inferences to suit myself.” A Neighbor concluded the Friend believed in millenarianism – a belief in the second coming of Jesus Christ to establish a thousand-year reign on Earth – and gathered a thousand followers into the wilderness of the New Jerusalem 25 years before. Similarly, to reports that the Friend professed to be the Messiah, A Neighbor asked questions of the Friend to discern the truth, only to receive responses of Bible verses and the Friend’s visions. Nevertheless, it seemed the Friend encouraged their followers to believe they acted upon the inspiration of Christ.

A Neighbor had first encountered the Society 18 years before; at that time, the Society was wealthy but since then had fallen out over disputes and litigation. “Many have deserted her; and a remnant only has remained with her to the last.” At one time, according to A Neighbor, the Friend had 3,000 or 4,000 followers – including men who left their wives and families and women and children who deserted their homes – settle with them in the New Jerusalem, “where it was believed all the elect were to gather together, under her protection and ministry, and the millennium to take place.”

The Intelligencer apparently responded to A Neighbor’s letter; since I haven’t been able to locate a digitized version of these Intelligencer editions, I haven’t been able to view either article published in this newspaper. A Neighbor responded to the Intelligencer’s response in the November 23, 1819 edition, noting the newspaper had responded to his or her first letter in the October 13, 1819 edition “with a critical review of my hasty communication of August last, copied from the Penn Yan Herald.” A Neighbor spent much of the second letter repeating and asserting his or her claims about the Friend that contradict the statements put forth by the Herald and the Intelligencer. This included describing the 14-square-foot room that served as the Friend’s chamber, in which they received visitors and followers during their ministry and at their death, but A Neighbor noted it was never called a chapel. Apparently challenged on the claim that the Friend had 3,000 to 4,000 followers, A Neighbor instead stated that was the total number of the Friend’s followers throughout New England and Pennsylvania, while the Society had 500 members in the New Jerusalem when A Neighbor became acquainted with it in 1795.

A Neighbor also both praised the Friend and criticized their detractors: “That a woman with hardly a common school education, in a country like the eastern and middle states, and among a people so generally well informed as the Yankees, and in the face of able ministers, should have been able to effect what she has evidently effected, is truly a wonder, and worthy of an investigation. A correct history of her life, ministry, and doctrines, could not fail to be highly interesting. Such an [sic] one I should be glad to see published by a competent hand. But the idle and malicious tales now going the rounds of our newspapers, are certainly unworthy of belief, as well as disgraceful to the presses which give them circulation.”

A Neighbor noted in the community there are “some among us who appear to believe that she was something more than human – the messenger of truth, divinely sent,” while others “paint her as a downright devil in petticoats – artful, abandoned, libidinous, and wicked.” A Neighbor believed both groups were wrong; A Neighbor believed the Friend themself was deceived and did believe themself to be inspired by Christ. “Her preaching was impressive, and calculated to produce a powerful effect on some minds. She inculcated good moral precepts, and was deeply read in Scripture, which seemed to be her ready and universal appeal on all questions addressed to her concerning religion,” A Neighbor wrote. “She was hospitable, social, and pleased to see strangers, and visitors were kindly received at her mansion, and treated with kindness, and freely discoursed with, if they demeaned themselves decently.”

A Neighbor closed this second letter by observing there were many people around New York State who had visited the Friend and been treated kindly by them and thus who knew the truth about who they were as a person versus the rumors and slander in the newspapers. A Neighbor also charged the Herald with “circulating such tales to her prejudice” and stated the newspaper should “feel a proper delicacy and forbearance on the subject.” Thus, A Neighbor provided an insider’s view of the life and times of the Public Universal Friend to the Penn Yan community and to an American audience.