Charles Henry Wharton

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The Reverend
Charles Henry Wharton
4th President of Columbia University
In office
1801–1801
Preceded byWilliam Samuel Johnson
Succeeded byBenjamin Moore
Personal details
Born(1748-06-05)June 5, 1748
St. Mary's County, Maryland
DiedJuly 22, 1833(1833-07-22) (aged 85)
Burlington, New Jersey

Charles Henry Wharton (June 5, 1748 – July 22, 1833), who grew up Catholic and became a Catholic priest, converted to Protestantism and became one of the leading Episcopal clergyman of the early United States, as well as briefly serving as president of Columbia University.

Early life

The family plantation, Notley Hall, was presented to his grandfather by

Jesuit College at St Omer,[2]
where he was very studious, and became fluent in Latin, so as to even be able to converse in it.

He was ordained deacon in June, 1772, and priest the following September, both in the

Roman Catholic Church. At the close of the American Revolution Wharton resided at Worcester, England, as chaplain to the Roman Catholics in that city. There he addressed a poetical epistle to George Washington
, with a sketch of his life, which was published for the benefit of American prisoners in England (Annapolis, 1779; London, 1780).

American ministry

Wharton returned to what had become the United States in 1783 in the first vessel that sailed after the peace. In May, 1784, he converted to the

Episcopal Church (USA)[3] At that convention, Rev. Wharton served on the committee to "draft an ecclesiastical constitution for the Protestant Episcopal church in the United States", as well as the committees "to prepare a form of prayer and thanksgiving for the Fourth of July", and to Americanize the Book of Common Prayer. In 1786 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society
.

After ten years' further residence in Delaware, in 1798 Wharton accepted a position as rector of St. Mary's Church,

George W. Doane
(2 vols., Philadelphia, 1834).

In 1801 Rev. Wharton accepted the presidency of Columbia College, New York, conditioned upon his ability to also continue his position in Burlington. He was to assume the position at Columbia's August commencement ceremonies, but either failed to appear, or only delivered that commencement oration, for he resigned as Columbia's president by December.[4][5]

Death and legacy

At the time of his death in 1833, Wharton was the senior presbyter of the Episcopal Church. He is buried in the graveyard of the church he led for 35 years.[6]

References

  1. ^ Hills, George Morgan (1876). History of the Church in Burlington, New Jersey, p. 342. Trenton, New Jersey: William S. Sharp.
  2. ^ Tyler, Moses Coit (1897). The Literary History of the American Revolution, 1763-1783, Vol. II, p. 166. G. P. Putnam's Sons.
  3. ^ "History – the Episcopal Church in Delaware".
  4. ^ "Charles H. Wharton | Columbia University Libraries".
  5. ISBN 0-231-13008-2
    .
  6. ^ "St. Mary's Church".
Academic offices
Preceded by President of Columbia College
1801 		Succeeded by
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