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{{short description|American politician (1735–1778)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox
| name = Thomas Wharton, Jr.
| image = Thomas Wharton (1735 - 1778), by Charles Willson Peale (1741 - 1827).jpg
| image_width =
| title = 1st [[List of governors of Pennsylvania|
| vicepresident = [[George Bryan]]
| term_start = March 5, 1777
| term_end = May 22, 1778
| predecessor = [[John Penn (governor)|John Penn]] (as [[List of colonial governors of Pennsylvania|Governor of Pennsylvania]])
| successor = [[George Bryan]]
| birth_date
| 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
| party =
| residence = "Twickenham," [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]]
| profession = [[Merchant]]▼
| signature = Signature of Thomas Wharton Jr. (1735–1778).png
▲|profession= [[Merchant]]
| caption = Portrait of Wharton by [[Charles Willson Peale]]
}}
'''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|
==Early life and family==
Wharton was born in [[Chester County, Pennsylvania|Chester County]] in the [[Province of Pennsylvania]]
|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
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]].
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==American Revolution==
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'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.
==President of Pennsylvania==
[[File:Coat of Arms of Thomas Wharton.svg|150px|thumb|Coat of Arms of Thomas Wharton]]
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]] 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.
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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:
<blockquote>
''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).''
==See also==
*[[List of governors
==References==
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{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Thomas, Jr.}}
[[Category:1735 births]]
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[[Category:Colonial American merchants]]
[[Category:Governors of Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People
[[Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:People disowned by the Quakers]]
[[Category:Politicians from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Wharton family]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:Burials in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Patriots in the American Revolution]]
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