Wetzel County, West Virginia Biography of William E. WHARTON ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , July 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III,pg. 156-157 WILLIAM E. WHARTON is proprietor of the leading un dertaking service and equipment in Wetzel County, at New Martinsville. He has been associated with this profes- sion and business since boyhood, and is a former member of the State Board of Embalmers. Mr. Wharton was born at Valley Mills, Wood County, West Virginia, April 11, 1869. The Wharton ancestry is Irish but the family was established in Pennsylvania in Colonial times. His grandfather, Daniel Wharton, was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, in 1813, and mar- ried there Misa Hoy, who was born in 1820. Soon after- ward they removed to Wood County, West Virginia, and lived the rest of their lives on a farm there. Daniel Whar- ton died on Laurel Creek in 1904 and his wife in 1914. Isaac Wharton, their son, was a life-long resident of Wood County, a very successful farmer, he was living practically retired at the time of his death, although he still owned his farm at Valley Mills. He was born in Monongalia County, West Virginia, January 17, 1845, and died March 24, 1922. He was a youthful soldier of the Union Army during the Civil war, going into the West Virginia Cavalry and participating in the battle of Shiloh, later Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and was within three miles of Appomattox when Lee surrendered. He was a republican in politics. Isaac Wharton married America Victoria Bice, who was born near Valley Mills in 1845 and died at her home there March 23, 1919. William E. is the oldest of their children. Josephine died at Valley Mills at the age of thirty-six, and Miss Rose Anna died Feb- ruary 7, 1922. She was living with her father at the time of her death. William E. Wharton made good use of his educational opportunities in the public schools of Valley Mills and In the Mountain State Business College at Parkersburg, which he attended in 1889. When only thirteen years of age he was doing duty as an assistant undertaker near Valley Mills. He has made a thorough study of the science of embalming and is one of the recognized leaders in the pro- fession. He was a general merchant and undertaker at Waverly until 1902, and in that year he moved to New Martinsville and bought the furniture and undertaking establishment of Staniford Brothers. In successive years he made this a recognized center for reliable merchandise as well as an unexcelled service in undertaking, and in time the combined business became too severe a tax upon his energies as sole proprietor and recently he sold his stock of furniture and now gives his entire time to under- taking. He owns the well equipped parlors at 300 Main Street, and has all the facilities of a high class funeral di- rector, including motor equipment. His service as a mem- ber of the State Board of Embalmers of West Virginia came through appointment by Governor A. B. White. He was on the board four years. Mr. Wharton owns a very comfortable home at 242 Clark Street. He is a republican, served two years on the City Council of New Martinsville, was for 9% years treasurer of the Presbyterian Church and is now president of its Board of Trustees. He was worshipful master in 1916 of Wetzel Lodge No. 39, A. F. and A. M., is a member of Parkersburg Chapter, R. A. M., Calvary Commandery No. 3, K. T., at Parkersburg, has taken eighteen degrees in the Scottish Rite Consistory at Parkersburg, and is also affiliated with Magnolia Lodge No. 42, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1899, at Parkersburg, he married Miss Eva C. Ogdin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Ogdin, now deceased. Her father was a well to do farmer near Waverly. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wharton: Bay Hunter, born February 27, 1901, graduated from West Virginia University Medical School in June, 1921, at the age of twenty, is now an assistant instructor in the medi- cal department, and in the fall of 1922 expects to enter Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia. During the war he was in the Reserve Officers Training Camp at the university and is still in the Reserve, and will receive rank as second lieutenant at the age of twenty-one. The two younger children of Mr. and Mrs. Wharton are Willa, born in 1906, attending the Magnolia High School, and Eva America, born in 1909.