BIOGRAPHY: Harry B. WHARTON, Mifflin County, PA

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by P. S. Barr 

Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/mifflin/
_______________________________________________ 

The Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley, Comprising 
the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry, Pennsylvania.
Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. Runk & Co., 1897, Volume I, page 525.

HARRY B. WHARTON, farmer and stock raiser, Wayne township, Mifflin county, Pa., 
was born January 28, 1864, at Huntingdon, Pa.  He is a son of Harry S. and Anna 
Wharton.  The Whartons were among the first settlers of Wayne township, the 
pioneer being Henry Wharton.  His son Henry was the father of Samuel Wharton, 
born in Wayne township, the grandfather of Harry B. Wharton.  One of Samuel 
Wharton's sons was Harry S. Wharton, born in Huntingdon in 1832.  His son, Harry 
B. Wharton, in early life attended a private school in Huntingdon taught by Miss 
Miller, and later received the instructions of a special private tutor.  After 
this he attended the Normal College in Huntingdon, Pa., for a period of three 
years.  In 1883 he came to Wayne township, Mifflin county, for the purpose of  
managing the Wharton estate for his aunt, Mrs. Anna Eliza Wharton Kinsloe.  In 
1886 he moved from one of the upper farms into the old Wharton homestead, the 
house of his great-great-grandfather, which is situated in a picturesque and 
charming spot on the banks of the Juniata river opposite the Vineyard bridge of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad, midway between Lewistown and Huntingdon.  It is the 
garden spot of Mifflin county, commanding a view of the blue Juniata to the 
westward for a distance of ten miles or more.  This place has been in the 
possession of the Wharton family since the earliest settlement of the valley.  
Desiring to modernize and improve the homestead and its surroundings, he began, 
in 1894, to make improvements on a gigantic scale, through which the place has 
become the most complete country residence in central Pennsylvania.  The house 
has been fitted up with all modern improvements, and large verandas extend 
around the front and the two sides.  All the work was done under Mr. Wharton's 
personal supervision.  The work on the ground surrounding the house was planned 
by Mr. McClain, of Harrisburg, an adept in lawn designing, and done under the 
supervision of Patrick Shean, a contractor of Philadelphia, noted for his fine 
work in terracing.  This lawn, containing over two acres, was terraced and 
graded to conform to the surroundings.  It has two large fountains, lily ponds 
and other suitable adornments, the water being brought a distance of two miles, 
with a fall of two hundred and eighty-three feet and a pressure of eighty 
pounds.
  Harry B. Wharton was married March 15, 1894, in Lewistown, Pa., to Miss N. 
Kenna Contner, born in Kishacoquillas valley, daughter of David Contner, a 
prominent and respected citizen of the valley.
  Mr. Wharton is a Republican.  The family are connected with the Presbyterian 
church.  With a brilliant mind, and inheriting keen mental activity from a long 
train of noted ancestors, there is every reason to expect an illustrious future 
for Mr. Harry B. Wharton.  At present he is devoting his time, principally, to 
the decoration of the magnificent house in which he takes so absorbing an 
interest.