Julia Chase was born on December 10, 1840, in Turner, Maine, to Job and Rebecca Chase. Her father was a farmer who owned $2,000 of real estate and $300 of personal property by 1860. The family lived in Turner until the 1850s, when they moved to Livermore, Maine. By 1860, she was working as a teacher. She spent several years teaching in Washington, D.C., before returning to Livermore.
She married Seth D. Washburn, and the couple had no children. Her husband worked as a farmer in Livermore. She established the North Livermore Reading Club, and she was a member of the local Universalist church. Her husband died in 1901, and she lived on her own in Livermore until at least 1920. She died in Livermore on May 11, 1935.