Greene Lawrence Wharton was born on a farm near Bloomington, Ind. He was the son of Stanfiel and Ann Esther (Berry) Wharton, and a descendant of Joseph Wharton who, emigrated from England and settled in Virginia early in the nineteenth century.
Up to the time he was seventeen, young Wharton had received only the most rudimentary education, for his father was constantly on the move. In 1867, for the most part self-prepared, he entered the high school in Terre Haute, Ind. , where he remained but a year. Later, he continued his studies in Southern Illinois College, Carbondale, Ill. Two years thereafter he was ordained and entered Bethany College, where he was graduated in 1876.
After teaching for several years, he became pastor of the Church of the Disciples of Christ in Carbondale. From 1876 to 1882 he was pastor of the Richmond Avenue Church of the Disciples in Buffalo, N. Y. On September 16, 1882, he and his wife sailed from New York for India under appointment as missionaries of the newly organized Foreign Christian Missionary Society of Cincinnati, Ohio. Arriving in Bombay, November 7, they proceeded immediately to Ellichpur, Berar, from which they prospected for a suitable location for missionary service. Harda, in the Central Provinces, was finally selected, and became in January 1883 the headquarters of the first India work of the Disciples of Christ. Very early in the history of the enterprise a school for boys was opened. Several native evangelists were engaged from other missions to aid in the Hindi work at Harda and in the surrounding area. During the winter of 1888-89 Wharton undertook additional work among the Gond and Kurku tribesmen of the Satpura mountains. In 1889, accompanied by his family, he made a trip to Australia, partly for the benefit of his wife's health and partly to arouse further interest in the India mission. After spending the following winter in India, they proceeded on furlough to America, where Wharton gave many addresses and enlisted aid for his enterprise. On October 17, 1891, leaving his family behind, he sailed with new recruits again for Harda, journeying by way of England, where he gave missionary addresses among the churches of his denomination. In February 1893, he was commissioned to found a training school for mission workers, which he established at Harda and from which the first class was graduated in 1897. During the great famine of 1897 he temporarily closed the school and rendered conspicuous relief service. In the spring of 1899, with his family, which had rejoined him, he returned to America. They made their home in the college hamlet of Hiram, Ohio, where Wharton served for several years as pastor of the church. During 1903-04, having resigned this pastorate, he made a tour of the churches of his order in behalf of the India training school. On September 30, 1904, he sailed for India, arriving in Bombay, November 5. He proceeded to Jabalpur, where, during his furlough, the Bible College, transferred from Harda, had been formally opened under the administration of George William Brown. Until shortly before his death he assisted in the work of education, evangelism, and publication. He was the author of several tracts in Hindi, and of one on the Christian use of the tithe system. He died in a Calcutta hospital and was buried in that city.
On August 1, 1878, he married Emma Virginia, daughter of Robert Richardson
