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In 1849 Wilburn joined a wagon train with his own ox team and went to California where he mined for gold, quite successfully. Later, he came to Lynn Co. MO. In 1853, Mr. and Mrs. Shirley and their three children, Margaret, John Lafayette and Marion Moses came overland by ox team to Lecompton. Wilburn, like his father, Isaac, was a "free state" man and was a radical Abolitionist. In 1860, he sold the 160 acres in Lecompton and located in Kaw Township, Jefferson Co. Kansas. This move in 1860 was the beginning of the "Jefferson County: Shirleys. After settling in Kaw Twp., Wilburn became prominent among the citizens. For many years he was a Justice of the Peace and in politics was a useful member of the Republican party. His religious belief coincided with that of the Baptist church but there being no organization of that kind in the community, he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Both Wilburn and his wife Louisa died in the fall of 1880, just three weeks apart. Four of Wilburn's sons lived and farmed in Jefferson Co. They were John L., Marion Moses, George Thomas "Tom", and Ennus P.
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