Samuel Wharton (May 3, 1732 – March 1800) was a merchant, land speculator, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

from Dover in Kent County,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

John Bayton John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, George Morgan, and

George Croghan George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Council, the governin ...

, deputy superintendent of Indian affairs, joined in a partnership on the Ohio country and Indian Trade after 1763. Though the various colonies laid claim to parts of it after the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

gave control of the entire

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

region to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

of Wharton and their business operation. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, he served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from Delaware.

Early life and family

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Wharton was the son of

Joseph Wharton Joseph Wharton (March 3, 1826 – January 11, 1909) was an American industrialist. He was involved in mining, manufacturing and education. He founded the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, co-founded the Bethlehem Steel comp ...

, a successful merchant. He was a first cousin to Thomas Wharton, Jr., who was the revolutionary President of Pennsylvania. Though Samuel later made his home in Dover, he always maintained close business connections with the city, where he was a partner in the mercantile firm of Baynton, Wharton and Morgan. He married Sarah Lewis of New Castle in 1754. They would have four children that survived infancy. He was elected to the

American Society The society of the United States is based on Western culture, and has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, ...

as a member in 1768.

Ohio Valley trade

In 1768 Wharton attended the negotiations leading to the

Treaty of Fort Stanwix The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotiated between Sir William J ...

. There Wharton represented a group of merchants, known as the "suffering traders", who had had trade goods destroyed during the

and

Pontiac's Rebellion Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of Native Americans dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–176 ...

(Marshall 1965:717). As compensation for their losses, the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

granted the "suffering traders" a tract of land making up about a fourth of modern

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

.Marshall: Lewis, G. E.,'' The Indiana Company, 1763-1798' '', Glendale, Cal., 1941, pp. 297-305 This land, known as Indiana—unrelated to the later state of the same name-would cause him nothing but trouble for the next twenty years.

Political career

When the Revolutionary War broke out, Wharton was in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

working to secure the crown's approval for the land grant. When some of his letters to rebels were made public, he was forced to flee to France. He was finally able to return to America in 1780, and took an oath of allegiance to the American cause on February 9, 1781. In 1782 and 1783 Wharton was a delegate to the Continental Congress. Many of his efforts there seem to have been quiet negotiations aimed at gaining recognition for his western land holdings. These did not avail, and he returned to Delaware. The entire claim came to naught when the Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance in 1787. Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware ceded all western claims, and his tract was confirmed as part of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Wharton served two years as a state court judge in Delaware before retiring to a country estate just outside Philadelphia, where he died in March 1800.

References

Biblio

Marshall, Peter, '' 'Lord Hillsborough, Samuel Wharton and the Ohio Grant, 1769-1775' '', The English Historical Review © 1965 Oxford University Press, Stable URL

(article consists of 23 pages).

External links

Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Samuel 1732 births 1800 deaths American Quakers Colonial American merchants Continental Congressmen from Delaware 18th-century American politicians People of Delaware in the American Revolution Wharton family Politicians from Philadelphia People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution People of colonial Pennsylvania