Albert Buckman Wharton Jr. (a.k.a. Buster Wharton) (August 8, 1909 – May 28, 1963) was an American rancher and

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

player.

Early life

Albert Buckman Wharton Jr. was born on August 8, 1909, in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. His mother,

Electra Waggoner Electra Waggoner (January 6, 1882 – November 26, 1925) was an American rancher and socialite from Texas. She was an heiress to the Waggoner Ranch, one of the largest ranches in the United States. The town of Electra, Texas, was named in her hono ...

, was a socialite and heiress to the

Waggoner Ranch The Waggoner Ranch is a historic ranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas, in north Texas near the Red River and Oklahoma border. Founded in 1852 by Daniel Waggoner, it is the largest ranch within one fence in the United States.

.Gary Cartwright
Showdown at Waggoner Ranch
''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...

'', January 2004 His father, Albert Buckman Wharton, was a horsebreeder and a member of the

Wharton family Wharton may refer to: Education * Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States * Wharton County Junior College, in Wharton, Texas, United States * Paul R. Wharton High School, in Tampa, Florida, Un ...

from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. His parents met while they were traveling separately in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. His maternal grandfather was

William Thomas Waggoner William Thomas Waggoner (August 31, 1852 – December 11, 1934) was an American rancher, oilman, banker, horsebreeder and philanthropist from Texas. He was the owner of the Waggoner Ranch, where he found oil in 1903. He was the founding president ...

and his maternal great-grandfather was

Daniel Waggoner Daniel Waggoner (July 7, 1828 – September 5, 1902) was an early American settler and rancher in Texas. He also owned five banks, three cottonseed oil mills, and a coal company. He established the Waggoner Ranch, which spanned eight counties: Wis ...

Polo

Wharton became a polo player. He built polo fields on the Waggoner Ranch. It was known as

El Ranchito Polo Club EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

and ran polo tournaments.Horace A. Laffaye, ''Polo in the United States: A History'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2011, p. 14

/ref> He played alongside polo champion Cecil Smith (polo), Cecil Smith at the ranch.

Personal life

Wharton was married several times. His last wife was Lula Waggoner.

Death

He died of

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

of the liver on May 28, 1963, in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. He was buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. He left his estate to his last wife. However, his son's mother sued her for four years, until the estate finally went to his son, who inherited it in 1970.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Albert Buckman Jr. 1909 births 1963 deaths Sportspeople from Colorado Springs, Colorado People from Dallas Ranchers from Fort Worth, Texas Sportspeople from Fort Worth, Texas American polo players Deaths from cirrhosis