Background
WHARTON, John Austin was born on July 3, 1828 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, United States. Son of William Harris and Sarah Ann (Groce) Wharton.
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John Austin WHARTON
Edit ProfileEducation
Private school, southern university.
Career
The family moved to Texas, where his father and uncle fought in the war for independence. (Wharton County is named for them.) Young Wharton lost his father as a child, and he grew up on a large plantation in Brazoria County, Texas. He was educated in Poughkeepsie, New York, and at the University of South Carolina from 1850 to 1852.
He read law under William Preston of South Carolina before being admitted to the Brazoria County bar in 1854. He was a Presbyterian and a Democrat. He married Penelope Johnson, daughter of Governor David Johnson of South Carolina.
They had one daughter. Wharton was sheriff and district attorney of Brazoria County in 1859. He was a secessionist delegate to the Texas secession convention.
When the Civil War began, he volunteered for service in the Confederate Army. As captain and later colonel of the 8th Texas Cavalry, he commanded the Texas Rangers following the death of General B. F. Terry. He won distinction at the battle of Shiloh.
He was promoted to brigadier general on November 18, 1862, and he distinguished himself at Bardstown and Perryville during the Kentucky campaign. He saw action at the battles of Murfreesboro and Chickamauga before his promotion to major general on November 10, 1863. As a cavalry commander during the Red River campaign in the spring of 1864, he pursued Union general N. P. Banks, but afterward, poor health forced him to retire from field duty.
While on leave, he was shot and killed in a Houston, Texas, hotel on April 6,1865, during a quarrel with Colonel George Baylor.
Religion
"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.
Politics
Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.
Connections
Spouse Penelope Johnson.
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Born
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Nationality
United States -
Religion
Presbyterian -
Political Party
Democrat