W. D. Wharton (1840-1907) was raised in Guilford County, N.C., the son of David Wharton (1803-1902) and Elizabeth Donnell Wharton (1795-1880). At the start of the Civil War, W. D. Wharton served as a major of the 67th Regiment North Carolina Militia. Wharton then enlisted in Company K, 5th North Carolina Cavalry Regiment (later called the 63rd Regiment North Carolina Troops). During the war, Wharton rose from the rank of third lieutenant to second lieutenant and became engaged to a distant cousin, Mary Eliza Wharton (1840-1873). He was wounded twice during the war, in the left shoulder on 1 June 1864 at Ashland, Va., and in the legs on 31 March 1865 at Chamberlain Run, Va. After the war, W. D. Wharton appears to have been married to Mary Eliza Wharton and settled in Guilford County, N.C. Wharton had a son, William Gilmer Wharton, in 1878, with his second wife, Jennie S. Gilmer Wharton (1840-1896).
W. D. Wharton's brother, John E. Wharton (1835-1916), was graduated from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1857. He served alongside his brother William in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. John E. Wharton first enlisted in Company B of the 27th Regiment and then raised a company of cavalry that became part of the 63rd Regiment of North Carolina Troops. He was captain of this company until his capture at Dinwiddie Court House, Va., on 31 March 1865. John E. Wharton suffered two shot wounds, one in the wrist in eastern North Carolina in 1863 and another through the neck in Ashland, Va., in June 1864. He married Martha Jane Cole (called Pattie) in July 1867 and moved from Greensboro, N.C., to Texas. John E. Wharton established Bloomfield Academy in the Indian Territories, a school for Indian girls. He then became a member of the faculty at Austin College in Sherman, Tex.
From the guide to the W. D. Wharton Papers (#5059), 1862-1907, (Southern Historical Collection)
