Thomas Wharton Jr.: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Politician (general)officeholder

| name = Thomas Wharton, Jr.

| image = Thomas Wharton (1735 - 1778), by Charles Willson Peale (1741 - 1827).jpg

| image_width =

| title = 1st [[PresidentsList of the Supreme Executive Councilgovernors of Pennsylvania|1st President of Pennsylvania]]

| vicepresident = [[George Bryan]]

| term_start = March 5, 1777

| term_end = May 2322, 1778

| successor = [[George Bryan]]

| birth_date= = {{birth year|1735}}

| birth_place = [[Chester County, Pennsylvania|Chester County]], [[Province of Pennsylvania]], [[British America]]

| death_date = {{death date and given age|1778|5|22|42–43}}

| death_place = [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[United States|U.S.]]

| party =

| residence = "Twickenham," [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]]

'''Thomas Wharton Jr.''' (1735{{spnd}}May 22, 1778) was a Pennsylvania merchant and politician of the [[American Revolution|Revolutionary]] era. He served as the first [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania#Presidents of Council|Presidentpresident of Pennsylvania]] (an office akin to [[GovernorList of governors of Pennsylvania|Governorgovernor]]) following the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] from [[Great Britain]].

Wharton was born in [[Chester County, Pennsylvania|Chester County]] in the [[Province of Pennsylvania]],<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_pennsylvania/col2-content/main-content-list/title_wharton_thomas.html|title=Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Wharton Jr.

|publisher= National Governors Association|accessdate= September 6, 2012}}</ref> in 1735. He was born into one of [[Philadelphia]]'s most prominent early [[Religious Society of Friends|Quaker]] families. He was known as "Junior" to distinguish him from a cousin of the same name.<ref name="ANB">Marc Egnal. "Wharton, Thomas, Jr."; ''[[American National Biography Online]]'', February 2000. Accessed September 12, 2009.</ref> His father, John Wharton, served as [[coroner]] of Chester County. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Wharton, a native of [[Westmorland]], [[England]], came to Pennsylvania around 1683; heand served on the Philadelphia Common Council (1713–1718).

In 1762, Wharton married Susannah Lloyd, the daughter of Thomas Lloyd and great-granddaughter of [[Thomas Lloyd (lieutenant governor)|Thomas Lloyd]], an early governor of Pennsylvania and a colleague of [[William Penn]].<ref name=patriots>Chapter on Thomas Wharton in ''Patriot Improvers: Biographical Sketches of Members of the American Philosophical Society'' by Whitfield J. Bell 1997, DIANE {{ISBN |0-87169-226-0}}</ref> They were married by a pastor in [[Christ Church (Philadelphia)|Christ Church]], an Anglican church, and were therefore disowned by the Quakers of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. Wharton was thereafter associated with the [[Anglican Church]], but never formally converted.<ref name="ANB" /> The couple had five children before Susannah's death ten years later. Wharton then married Elizabeth Fishbourne and had three children with her. Wharton owned a country home called "Twickenham" near Abington Meeting in [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania|Montgomery County]].

Wharton became a merchant and was well respected for his character as well as his business acumen. He was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1761.<ref>Bell, Whitfield J., and Charles Greifenstein, Jr. Patriot-Improvers: Biographical Sketches of Members of the American Philosophical Society. 3 vols. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1997, II: 229, 289, 317.</ref> Like many other colonial merchants, Wharton signed petitions and joined boycotts in protest of the [[1765 Stamp Act]] and the 1767 [[Townshend Acts]], but he was not an early leader of the resistance movement.<ref name="ANB" /> His rise to prominence in the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] cause followed Parliament's passage of the [[Boston Port Act]] in 1774.<ref name="ANB" /> At a public meeting held in Philadelphia on May 20, 1774, Wharton was chosen as a member of the [[Committee of correspondence|Committee of Correspondence]], and later was one of twenty-five citizens who formed the [[Committee of Safety (American Revolution)|Committee of Safety]], Pennsylvania’sPennsylvania's governing body in the early days of the Revolution. On July 24, 1776, he became president of that body. As such he was a member of the committee directing that a new constitution be drafted for the state.

On September 28, 1776, Pennsylvania adopted a new [[Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776|state constitution]]. This document created an [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|Executive Council]] of twelve men. Although wealthy, upper class Pennsylvanians like [[John Dickinson (delegate)|John Dickinson]] and [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]] opposed this radically democratic constitution, Wharton supported it.<ref name="ANB" /> On a joint ballot of the Council and the General Assembly Wharton was elected the first President of the Council.

Wharton, and each of his successors in that office, may be referred to, quite properly, as [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania#Presidents of Council|President of Pennsylvania]]. However, the position is analogous to the modern office of [[List of Governorsgovernors of Pennsylvania|Governor]], and Presidents of Council are often listed with those who have held the latter title.

On May 22, 1778,<ref name="ANB" /> with the Council still in Lancaster, Wharton died in Lancaster at the age of 42 or 43. Vice-President [[George Bryan]] assumed the duties of the presidency upon Wharton's death. Wharton was given an elaborate funeral with full military honors, in accordance with his position as commander in chief of the State's forces, and was buried within the walls of [[Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)|Evangelical Trinity Church]] in Lancaster.<ref name=graveyard>[http://politicalgraveyard.com Political Graveyard] page for surname [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/wharton.html Wharton], accessed April 29, 2007.</ref> At the time of his death, Thomas Wharton Jr. was survived by at least three sons.<ref name=minutes>''Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, from its organization to the termination of the Revolution. [March 4, 1777 – December 20, 1790].'' Harrisburg, Pub. by the State, 1852-531852–53. Entries for March 4–5, 1777 (v. XI p. 173-4), September 23, 1777 (v. XI p. 312), October 1, 1777 (v. XI p. 313), May 25, 1778 (v. XI p. 499).</ref>

A Commonwealth of Pennsylvania historical marker at Trinity Church commemorates both Wharton and Pennsylvania Governor [[Thomas Mifflin]], the first and last Governors and Presidents of Pennsylvania under the 1776 State Constitution. The marker was dedicated in 1975 and is located on Duke Street in Lancaster.<ref name=marker>Pennsylvania State Historical Marker for [http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/DOH/descriptresults.asp?secid=31&markertext=thomas+wharton&markertextsubmit=Search+by+Keywords Thomas Wharton] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526123038/http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/DOH/descriptresults.asp?secid=31&markertext=thomas+wharton&markertextsubmit=Search+by+Keywords |date=May 26, 2008 }}</ref> The text of the marker reads:

<center><blockquote>{{center|'''Holy Trinity'''<br/>'''Lutheran Church'''<br/>

''Founded in 1730.<br>A session for an Indian treaty was held in the original church building in 1762.<br>The present edifice was dedicated in 1766.<br>Here are interred the remains of Thomas Wharton (1778) and Gov. Thomas Mifflin (1800).''</center>}}</blockquote>

* [[List of Governorsgovernors of Pennsylvania]]

*[httphttps://www.jstor.org/stable/20084522 Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Thomas Wharton, Junr.]

{{succession box | before=Himself, as President<br>of the Committee of Safety |title=[[Supreme Executive CouncilList of the Commonwealthgovernors of Pennsylvania#Presidents of Council|President of Pennsylvania]] | years= March 5, 1777 – May 23, 1778<br>died in office | after= [[George Bryan]] }}

[[Category:People offrom colonial Pennsylvania]]

[[Category:PeoplePoliticians from Chester County, Pennsylvania]]