WILBUR, John, Quaker preacher, born in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, 17 July, 17'74; died there, 1 May, 1856. He was the son of Quaker parents, and became a preacher of the society. He opposed the introduction of religious views that he deemed to be at variance with the original doctrines of his sect, and in 1838 was accused by several members of the Rhode Island yearly meeting of circulating in his conversation and writings opinions and statements derogatory to the character of the English Quaker, Joseph John Gurney, then on a visit to the United States. He was sustained by a large majority in his own monthly meeting (that of South Kingston, Rhode Island), but that body having been dissolved, and its members added to the Greenwich meeting, he was formally disowned by the latter in January, 1843, its action being subsequently confirmed by the quarterly meeting and the Rhode Island yearly meeting. His supporters were sufficiently numerous in Rhode Island and other parts of New England to form an independent yearly meeting, the members of which were known as Wilburites. Mr. Wilbur twice visited England, the second time in 1854. He published several polemical pamphlets, but his " Journal and Correspondence" (Providence, 1859) did not appear until after his death.