Samuel Wharton of King George

     I recently discovered that Samuel was one of my ancestors after stumbling on an obscure chancery record in Caroline County Va. As usual, I'm not sure the information I have found online is 100% accurate so I really wanted to share the information I found for my fellow family members. I would also hope that if anyone out there has a source that will support any of the other online trees, please reach out to me. I will update this page as I find sources to prove or disprove any additions.

     I'm not sure when Samuel Wharton was born. The researchers seem to differ on this fact. His oldest son John, had to have been born around 1704 because he was married by 1725. This really puts Samuel's birth in the early 1780's or before. There is always a chance that both men married as minors, but this was not very common for men during that time period.

      The wife listed in his will and later estate and deed records was named Ann. Various online trees alternatively give her maiden name as Griffin or Whiting with no records for evidence to back it up. According to a 1717 deed transfer from Samuel Wharton, his grandfather was named Ralph Whiting, so Ann was not a Whiting. It also appears that the name Griffin was just an assumption based on another land grant Samuel Wharton claimed but that grant was also connected to Ralph Whiting. I will just call her Ann.........for now.

     Samuel Wharton died sometime between the winter of 1733 and the spring of 1734. 

     The will seems to divide his children into two groups, older and younger. The first four sons were given separate tracts of land and his daughter Martha is given a ring which signifies that she was likely the oldest daughter. Zacheus and Joseph were given property that they were to inherit jointly but they had to wait until their mother died since it was the land where Samuel and Ann resided. At the end, he mentions children: Martha, Zacheus, Joseph, Ann, and Elizabeth to get the rest of his estate after THEIR mother died. He also states when the children come of age. This wording of this will proves that none of the daughters are married in 1733 and were likely all minors.  I think it is also a possibility Samuel may have had these children with two different women.

 I didn't transcribe this will. I copied the transcribed version from here: https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I30177&tree=Tree1

 WILL OF SAMUEL WHARTON

In the Name of God Amen, I Samuel Wharton of the Parish of Hanover & County of King George being in good health at this time thanks to be to Almighty God for the same & knowing the uncertainty of Life I do make & ordain this my last will & Testament in manner & form as followeth

Imp I recommend my Soul to Almighty God that gave it & my body to the earth from whence it came to be decently buryed at the discretion of by Executors hereafter named as for my worldly goods that God hath bestowed upon and I give & bequeath it as followeth.

Item I give & bequeath to my oldest Son John Wharton one hundred acres of Land beginning upon the Crooked Road upon the line of Thos. Surnor & along the said line to the Ferry road & up the said road to a Hikory Tree standing in a point of sunkon ground by the road side & thence a Strait Course to the Creek & so down the said Creek to the first mentioned station to him & to his heirs for ever I give to John Wharton my Coat and one Shilling Sterling to be paid at demand after my decease & no more of my Estate.

Item I give & bequeath to my Son Samuel Wharton one hundred acres of Land beginning upon a red Oak Corner Tree to W. S. Surnor standing by the fferry road and thence running west to Mr. Turnors further corner that he bought of and thence the Course of the Pattent up to the main run side thence down the run to the spring belonging to plantation of Richard Tankersley thence a strait Course to the first mentioned station to him & his heirs forever I give to my Son Samuel a Negro wench named Judy & all her increase to him & his heirs for ever a pistole & holster & sword & one feather bed & furniture

Item I give & bequeath to my Son William Wharton the plantation that Andrew Beard live on & all the Land on the North side of the run joyning to Andrew Beards plantation to him & his heirs forever & and Stallion named Fortune & the rest of my wearing Cloths to be divided between
William & Charles Wharton & to Charles Wharton one Mare Colt to William one gun & Saddle

Item I give to my son Charles Wharton all the Land between my spring branch & John Wharton's bounds to him & his heirs for ever.

Item I give & bequeath to my son Joseph Wharton and Zacharias Wharton all the rest of my Land to be divided equally between them after the decease of their mother to them & their heirs for ever.

I give to my Daughter Martha one ring & as for the rest of my Estate both real and personal I leave it to my loving wife Anne Wharton & to the rest of the Children Martha Wharton & Anne Wharton & Elizabeth Wharton & Joseph Wharton and Zacharias Wharton equally to be divided after their mother has got her third when the Children are come to age and I do appoint my well beloved wife Anne Wharton & Thomas Surnor and my loving Son John Wharton & Samuel Wharton whole Excor to this my last Will & Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & Seal this 30th day of November 1732.

Samuel Wharton

Signed Sealed & Delivered to
my last Will & Testament
in Presence of us
Richard Tankersley
Edward Marshall
Richard Tankersley [sic]

At a Court held for King George County
the 6th day of April 1733

The last Will & Testament of Samuel Wharton was presented into Court by Anne Wharton his [illegible] Executrix who made Oath thereto & the same was proved by the Oath of Richard Tankersley Edward Marshall & Richard Tankersley & admitted to record

I'm going to assume that the children are listed in this will by birth order or very close to it.

1. John Wharton, who Samuel calls his oldest son, was probably born around 1704. Evidence suggests that he married Martha Long about 1725 because that was the year that her father, Henry Long, gifted them a slave. He was given 100a of land adj Thomas Turner on Gingoteague Creek. John Wharton died in 1736 and left this 100a to his wife Martha as long as she lived unmarried and then it was to go to their oldest son Samuel. Their children were: Samuel, Elizabeth, Valentine Long, and Mary, who were born between 1726-1736.

 2. Samuel Wharton, who was most likely the second oldest surviving son was born about 1707. He and his older brother John were made co-executors of their fathers will, so they had to be at least 16 when it was written. He died in 1738. He was a newlywed and had just married in 1737 to a young widow named Ann Johnson Williams who had one son named James Williams. Samuel Wharton left a will in Spotsylvania and named his wife and her son as legatees. He also named his sister's Ann and Martha, who were both referred to as "Wharton", so they were still unmarried when the will was written. He left legacies to his surviving brothers: William, Charles, Zacheus, and Joseph and he included his mother, Ann Furlong, in the will. He omitted his sister Elizabeth from the will, at least the one that was recorded. There could have been many reasons she was missed. Maybe the clerk failed to copy the original correctly, maybe they did not get along, maybe he already gave her something......

     This does prove that Martha Wharton could not have been married to John Schooler prior to 1738 so most of the genealogies attributed to her have errors since they have her married with children as early as 1725.

3. William Wharton was born c1710. He married Mrs Ann Rawlings, the widow of John Rawings in 1740. He moved to Westmoreland County, Virginia to live on the property she inherited from her husband. He became the guardian of her three daughters: Rebecca, Mary and Ann Rawlings.

4. Charles Wharton was born c1713. He died in 1767 and left a will naming his wife Sarah, and children: Samuel, Sarah, Ann, Delilah, Nannie, Reuben and Catherine. In the will of William Furlong, Ann Wharton was called his Goddaughter. Mrs Sarah Wharton may have been a Boon before her marriage.

5. Martha Wharton was born c1716. She married John Schooler not long after the 1738 will of her brother. They had at least three sons that appear in deed records: John Schooler, Wharton Schooler, and Samuel Schooler.

There is a rather common story online that a man named Benjamin Schooler, who was born in 1725, belonged to her. This clearly cannot be correct. She was not married in 1733 or 1738. The earliest record that mentions her name as a wife of John Schooler is a chancery record in King George from 1748. She had a two proven son's born in the 1740's named John (b1742) and Wharton (b1744). The bible everyone throws around in various chats and on family trees belonged to Benjamin Schooler 1758-1822. The math's aren't mathing on this one.

6. Ann Wharton was born c1719. Evidence suggests that she may have had one child out of wedlock named John Wharton who was born about 1743. He was bound out to Mourning Richards in 1759 for 5 years so since a person was generally bound until they were 21 then we can estimate his birth. The person giving consent was William Furlong, who he refers to as his father-in-law. This term did not have the same meaning that it does by todays standard. She likely married Peter Schooler and had at least one daughter named Ann.

7. Joseph Wharton was born c1722. He moved to Orange County Virginia. There is a chancery suit in Caroline Va in the 1770's against Edward Dixon, who was the executor of the will of William Furlong. The remaining children of Samuel Wharton were trying to get what was left of their father Samuel Wharton's estate that fell into the hands of William Furlong through his marriage to their mother Ann. Joseph sold the interest of his portion to his nephew Wharton Schooler. The deeds of Orange Va show that Joseph had a wife named Mary and two son's named George and Samuel.

8. Elizabeth Wharton was born c1725. She married William Copein, also known as William Copin, Stonemason of Prince William County, Virginia. In a chancery suit in the 1770's filed in Caroline County Va. the heirs of Samuel Wharton had filed a complaint against Edward Dixon who was the executor of the estate of William Furlong. The last remaining heirs of Samuel Wharton were trying to regain the part of their father's estate that William Furlong got use of through his marriage to their mother Ann. The details of this suit are something that we will likely never know because most of the records of Caroline Va were destroyed in a fire. The heirs listed in the order book were: John Schooler and Martha (Wharton) his wife, William Copein and Elizabeth (Wharton) his wife, Joseph Wharton, and the infant children of Zacheus Wharton deceased. William Copein and Elizabeth Wharton had the following children: John Copin, Samuel Copin, William Copin, Sarah Copin, George Copin, and Zacheus Copin. 

9. Zacheus Wharton was born c1728. According to court records he still had a guardian in 1748 but by 1750 he sold his land in his own right. He died in 1768. The deeds and court records show that he had a wife named Elizabeth and three children named: John, Samuel and Margaret at the time of his death. These children are the ones listed on the chancery suit. His wife may have been a Johnson.