Joseph Wharton was an American manufacturer and philanthropist.
Background
Joseph Wharton was born in Philadelphia, Pa. , fifth of the ten children of William and Deborah (Fisher) Wharton. His father was a cousin of Thomas I. Wharton, a nephew of Samuel Wharton, and a descendant of Thomas Wharton, a native of England, who was in Philadelphia before 1689.
Education
Joseph's early education was received in private schools and from a tutor. He continued his studies in chemistry at the laboratory of Martin H. Boyé in Philadelphia, and also added to his knowledge of French and German.
Career
At the age of sixteen he was sent to the Chester County farm of Joseph S. Walton, where he remained until the age of nineteen, working as an ordinary farm hand in order to regain his health. His first business experience was secured as clerk in a drygoods establishment during the years 1845-47. In 1847 he cooperated with his brother in establishing a white lead manufactory, which they sold. In 1851 he became a stockholder in the Lehigh Zinc Company, and from 1853 to 1863 was its manager. In this connection he was responsible for the first commercially successful production of spelter - a crude metallic zinc - in America, and built the first spelter works on the Belgian model to be operated profitably in the United States. In the meantime, 1857, he had been one of the founders and become a director of the Saucon Iron Company, the name of which was changed in 1861 to Bethlehem Iron Corporation; ultimately it became a part of the Bethlehem Steel Company. About 1864 Wharton purchased the abandoned Gap Nickel mine in Lancaster County, Pa. , and established a plant in Camden, N. J. , for the manufacture of metallic nickel and metal copper alloys. For many years he was the only producer of refined nickel in the United States, and in 1875 he succeeded in turning out a pure malleable nickel, which was utilized in the making of many useful articles. In addition to his other interests, he was connected with several railroads, was proprietor of the Andover Iron Company, of Phillipsburg, N. J. , and was the owner of large coal tracts and coke works. Wharton also exerted a strong political influence, particularly with respect to the tariff. He believed in a high protective tariff for all manufacturers as well as for the iron and steel trade, of which he was the leading tariff spokesman for over a quarter of a century. In 1868 he helped organize the Industrial League of Pennsylvania, a protectionist organization. When its work was taken over by the American Iron and Steel Association in 1875, he was elected first vice-president of the Association, and in 1904, its president. Among his published contributions to the discussion of tariff legislation were International Industrial Competition (1870, 1872), and National Self-Protection (1875), the title of which became one of the chief slogans of the protectionist group. He took an active interest in educational matters, and was a founder of Swarthmore College, one of the earlier co-educational institutions, established by the Philadelphia and New York Hicksite Friends. He was a member of its board of managers (1870 - 1909) and was president of the board for nearly twenty-five years (1883 - 1907). To the support of the institution he gave liberally. Among his writings not previously mentioned were: Is a College Education Advantageous to a Business Man?; Suggestions Concerning the Small Money of the United States (1868); Speeches and Poems (1926), collected by J. W. Lippincott.
Achievements
Personality
Wharton was a man of varied interests. Although he achieved his greatest success as a manufacturer, he was a chemist, geologist, mineralogist, and metallurgist. He was an effective speaker on educational and other questions of public importance.
Interests
He was interested in art and had some skill in drawing.
Connections
On June 15, 1854, he married Anna Corbit Lovering, by whom he had three children.