J. H. WHARTON

J. H. Wharton has spent almost his entire life in Cedar county and is today the owner of the old Wharton homestead in Inland township. He was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, on the 21st of July, 1857, and is a representative of an old and honored family, his grandfather, James Wharton, Sr., having been a soldier of the war of 1812. He was born August 28, 1792, and accompanied the family on their removal to this county, making his home with his son James until his death, which occurred on the 10th of November, 1862. He was a very religious man and was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Ellen B. Quimby, was born August 14, 1796, and died in Ohio, December 21, 1860.

James Wharton, Jr., the father of our subject, was also a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, his birth occurring May 11, 1820. In the Buckeye state he was reared and educated and continued to make his home there until the ‘50s, when he came to Cedar county, Iowa, and purchased four hundred acres of land in Inland township, paying seven and a half dollars per acre. The place at that time was slightly improved and to its further development and cultivation he devoted his time and energies for many years. He continued to reside upon this farm until called to his final rest in 1895, at the age of seventy-two years. He was a lifelong member of the Methodist Episcopal church and took an active part in its work. For several years he served as township school treasurer and gave his support to all measures which he believed calculated to promote the moral or material welfare of his community. On the 5th of May, 1847, he married Miss Jane Ballou, who died on the 10th of November, 1862, and he was again married August 6, 1868, his second union being with Rachel Young, now deceased. The children by his first marriage were: John S., who was born February 9, 1849, and died in Milwaukee; Charles, who was born July 24, 1850, and died in Ohio, May 15, 1855; Mary Amanda, who was born November 12, 1854, and married Andrew Sleeth, of Cedar county, and is now deceased; and J. H. of this review. There was one child by the second union, Anna Bell, now the wife of J. E. Harris, of Inland township.

J. H. Wharton accompanied his parents on their removal to this state and in Cedar county he passed the days of his boyhood and youth in much the usual manner of farm lads. He always remained under the parental roof and came into possession of the old homestead upon the death of his father. He was married February 5, 1885, to Miss Clara Bell Parker, a native of Scott county, Iowa, and a daughter of Jackson and Elizabeth Parker. Her father is now deceased but her mother is still living at the age of eighty-nine years and makes her home with our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Wharton have five children, namely: John E., Andrew F., and James William, all at home; Carrie Bell, the wife of Clyde Ayres; and Wave Elizabeth, at home.