Wilbur, John

views updated

John Wilbur, 1774–1856, American Quaker leader, b. Hopkinton, R.I. He became the leader of the opposition to the evangelical principles of J. J. Gurney and Elias Hicks, and his expulsion (1843) by the Quakers resulted in the formation of the new New England Yearly Meeting. His followers were called Wilburites. See Friends, Religious Society of.