Julia A. Wilbur wrote a set of diaries throughout much of her life. Today they are a part of the Haverford College Quaker Collection. A diary entry from May 19, 1865 appears in The Harriet Jacobs Family Papers, the "Mrs. J." Wilbur mentions is none other than Harriet Jacobs, author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), who, with her good friend Wilbur, provided relief to former slaves fleeing the South into Alexandria, Va., throughout the Civil War. Harriet Jacobs and Julia Wilbur also worked with Susan B. Anthony to establish voting rights for women. Julia worked in Washington D.C. until the end of her life, writing, working and sharing information about family history and politics in the aftermath of the Civil War. Though not as famously known as other well known female crusaders of her era, she is without a doubt one of the more important and involved women of the 19th century.

Julia A. Wilbur left a wealth of information regarding the Wilbur Family. She was an avid genealogist when she worked in D.C., at the Patent Office, where we believe she might have been the first woman ever hired.

.....

1895 Obituary

Passed to Her Reward
Nunda News

Miss Julia A Wilbur, formerly of Avon, N.Y., a clerk for many years in the Patent Office, died at her home in Washington, June 6th. of influenza and results , aged 80 years. Sprung from sturdy Quaker stock, she early in life took up arms against slavery. For many years she engaged in active partisan labor for the cause of freedom, and was intimately associated with all the great anti-slavery leaders and workers of the time. The breaking out of the war brought her to Washington where she labored long for the amelioration of the negroes and the relief of the sick and wounded soldiers. After the war she was appointed a clerk in the patent office, which position she held until her death. The burial was at Avon.

.....

Julia writes in her July 12, 1860 journal entry, "Went with Abner & Neddy this morning to W. Avon to paint the iron fence that encloses our burial lot & did not return till 4 P.M. We worked there yesterday P.M.& it has taken
us longer than we supposed it would. It is a beautiful spot where our loved ones sleep & there is a sad satisfaction in adorning their last resting place. The weather is so pleasant now & the sun shines so lovingly there, & the winds breathe their soft music through the trees that are near, & it is just such spot. I am sure, as Sarah would have loved, I wish we could visit it oftener, for I love to linger there & think of the loved ones that are waiting for us, that have only gone a little while before."