(Excerpt from Texas: Address of the Honorable Wm; H. Whart...)
Excerpt from Texas: Address of the Honorable Wm; H. Wharton, Delivered in New York on Tuesday, April 26, 1836; Also Address of the Honorable Stephen F. Austin Delivered in Louisville, Kentucky on the 7th March, 1836 We are assembled to participate for a few moments in those lofty feelings which nerved the all conquering arms, and kindled the dauntless hearts of the heroes of '76. The most bloody and ab horrent outrage upon liberty will be depicted to you gentlemen. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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William Harris Wharton was born on April 27, 1802 in Albemarle County, Va. , the descendant of John Wharton who emigrated from Westmorland, England, to Culpeper County, Va. , about 1730 and the son of John Austin and Judith (Harris) Wharton. Both his parents died in 1816, leaving five children to the guardianship of an uncle, Jesse Wharton, a lawyer and a representative and senator in Congress from Tennessee.
While engaged in the practice of law at Nashville, Tenn. , young Wharton met Sarah Ann Groce, who was attending school there. The courtship that followed brought him to Texas and to the home of Jared Ellison Groce, the largest planter and slave owner in all that country. Jared Groce offered the young people one-third of his vast estate - all the lands he possessed in Brazoria County - and numerous slaves, if they would remain in Texas. With keen intuition, Groce felt that Wharton would be a valuable asset to the new country. The Wharton plantation was situated twelve miles from the Gulf of Mexico on fertile land, with the Brazos River on one side and Oyster Creek on the other. Here a splendid home was built with lumber from Mobile and furniture and interior decoration from Nashville. Here at "Eagle Island" - for such was the plantation called - many important meetings were held that had much to do with shaping the future of Texas. Here John A. Wharton, the first child, who succeeded to the command of the Confederate regiment, "Terry's Texas Rangers, " after Terry was killed, grew to manhood. By the time the Texas Revolution appeared probable, Wharton had become prominent in public affairs. A convention was called at San Felipe for October 1, 1832, with the ostensible purpose of proclaiming loyalty to Santa Anna, but perhaps with the real purpose of petitioning for the repeal of the law of April 6, 1830, which prohibited further colonization in Texas by citizens of foreign countries, including the United States. Wharton was nominated as president, but Stephen F. Austin, recognized as the most influential man in Texas, was elected. Wharton wrote the report of the committee asking repeal of the objectionable law of April 6. When a second convention was called, April 1, 1833, Wharton was chosen president. This convention set itself the task of writing a new constitution for Texas, when Texas should be separated from Coahuila. Early in 1835 a large group of Texans, one of whom was Wharton, had given up hope of reform and come to favor complete separation from Mexico. By July of that year Lorenzo de Zavala and Wharton were openly agitating against Santa Anna. When the Texans organized at Gonzales on October 11, 1835, Austin was elected commander-in-chief, and Wharton was made judge-advocate of the army. He resigned this office on November 8, and four days later was selected by the Consultation to accompany Austin and Branch T. Archer to the United States to solicit aid and support for the Texas revolution. On April 26, 1836, five days after the battle of San Jacinto, he made a stirring Address (1836) in the Masonic Hall, New York City, asking for sympathy and pecuniary aid. He did not know that at the time Santa Anna had been captured and the revolution brought near to a close. On May 31, he had a conference lasting several hours with President Jackson, who advised him what Texas should do to prove that the revolution had achieved a de facto government. The three commissioners were back in Texas by mid-summer, and on July 20, 1836, they met at Velasco to submit their report. Wharton was chosen a senator from the Brazoria district but resigned in November to accept the appointment from President Sam Houston as minister to the United States. His mission was to negotiate for the recognition of Texas and for its eventual annexation to the United States. While Wharton was in Washington, Jackson urged him to have Texas extend its claims to include California. Wharton wrote: "He is very earnest and anxious on this point of claiming the Californias and says we must not consent to less". Jackson seemed to think that if Texas could be extended to include California, the North would consent to annexation in order to gain a port on the Pacific. Though Wharton lived to see Texas recognized as an independent republic, he was not permitted to see annexation consummated. In October 1838 he removed his residence from "Eagle Island" to Houston and took a place in the Texas Senate. He died at the home of his wife's brother, Leonard Waller Groce. While preparing to go to "Eagle Island, " he drew his pistol to examine it and discharged it accidentally, inflicting a mortal wound. He was buried at Restwood Memorial Park in Clute, Texas.
(Excerpt from Texas: Address of the Honorable Wm; H. Whart...)
On December 5, 1827, he married Sarah Ann Groce, the daughter of a wealthy landowner. Their only child was a son, John A. Wharton.
