Jesse Wharton (died 1676) was the 7th

Proprietary Governor A proprietary colony was a type of English colony mostly in North America and in the Caribbean in the 17th century. In the British Empire, all land belonged to the monarch, and it was his/her prerogative to divide. Therefore, all colonial proper ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

during a brief period in 1676. He was appointed by the royally chartered proprietor of Maryland,

Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore (August 27, 1637 – February 21, 1715), inherited the colony of Maryland in 1675 upon the death of his father, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, (1605–1675). He had been his father's Deputy Governor sin ...

. Following his death, Wharton was briefly succeeded by Cecil Calvert, infant son of Charles Calvert, before the next Governor,

Thomas Notley Thomas Notley (Cerne Abbas, Cerne Abbas, Dorset, England 1632 - 3 April 1679) was the 8th Proprietary Governor of Province of Maryland, Maryland from 1676 through 1679. Having first moved to Barbados he immigrated to America in 1662. He was the spea ...

, was appointed.

Life

Wharton emigrated to Maryland from the English colony in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

in 1670. He quickly became a successful planter and politician in the colony, holding several political offices and amassing 11 slaves and more than before his death only six years after his arrival. Once in the colony, Wharton married Elizabeth Sewall, the daughter of a politically prominent local settler named Henry Sewall. Wharton became a member of the Governor's Council in 1672 and became the Deputy Governor in 1676, with de facto gubernatorial authority, for a brief period before his death. At the time, the nominal Governor of the colony was Cecil Calvert, the infant son of the colony's proprietor. In reality, the Governor's Council led by Wharton ruled the colony, and he is listed by the Maryland State Archives as having been a colonial governor. Wharton's appointment passed over four more senior members of the council, including Philip Calvert. The appointment came at a dangerous time for the colony, when threats from both within and outside its settlers loomed. Settlers on the western shore feared an attack from hostile Native Americans, and earlier that year the colony had armed some friendly tribes in preparation for just such an eventuality. Next door in Virginia,

Bacon's Rebellion Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion held by Colony of Virginia, Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon (Virginia colonist), Nathaniel Bacon against List of colonial governors of Virginia, Colon ...

threatened the colonial order itself. These twin crises reached a peak in July, when the rebellion in Virginia succeeded in toppling its colonial government and settlers on the western shore were warned to arm themselves against an imminent native attack. In the midst of this crisis, and only a little more than a month after assuming office, Wharton died. He had only governed the colony from Charles Calvert's departure on June 16, 1676, until he named

as his successor just prior to his death in July of the same year. Upon his death, he left behind one son, Henry Wharton, and his wife, Elizabeth. She later remarried a man named William Digges.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Jesse Year of birth unknown 1676 deaths 17th-century American people Colonial Governors of Maryland Colonial politicians from Maryland