DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the voice carrying it down the road. Now, some men leave a mark on a place, and some places leave a mark on a man — and William Harris Wharton managed to do just about everything Texas asked of him before Texas even had a proper name for itself. He was born in Virginia, 1806.
By 1832, he was already standing in the thick of it — a participant in the Battle of Velasco, which, if you know your Texas history, was not exactly a Sunday afternoon stroll. That same year, 1832, he took a seat as a member of the Convention of Texas. One convention wasn't enough for William Harris Wharton, though.
He came back the very next year — 1833 — and this time he didn't just attend. He presided. President of the Convention of 1833.
The man had a way of moving toward the center of things. When Texas declared itself a republic in 1836, somebody had to carry that word to the United States, make the case, represent this new and audacious nation on foreign ground. That somebody was William Harris Wharton — minister to the United States, from 1836 to 1837.
You want to talk about a high-wire act, try convincing a whole other country that your country is real. He came home and kept working. Member of the 5th Congress of the Republic.
Still in it. Still showing up. And then — March 14, 1839.
That's where the marker goes quiet. Born 1806 in Virginia. Died March 14, 1839.
The Republic he helped build was barely three years old. William Harris Wharton had done a lot of living in not a lot of time — and Texas, for its part, remembered.
What the marker says
Participated in the Battle of Velasco, 1832. Member of the Convention of Texas, 1832; president of the Convention of 1833; minister of the United States, 1836-1837; member of the 5th Congress of the Republic. Born in Virginia, 1806; died March 14, 1839.