WHARTON, FRANCIS (182o-1889), American legal writer and educationist, was born in Philadelphia, Penn., March 7, 182o. After holding various professional and ecclesiastical posts, he settled in Washington, D.C., where in 1885-88 he was lecturer and professor of criminal law at Columbian (now George Washington) university and solicitor of the Department of State. Wharton wrote many legal treatises and was a leading American authority on international law. He died in Washington, D.C.,
Feb. 21, 1889.
See the Memoir (Philadelphia, 1891) by his daughter, Mrs. Viele, and several friends; and J. B. Moore's "Brief Sketch of the Life of Francis Wharton," prefaced to the first volume of the Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence; Asa W. Russell, "Francis Wharton, L.L.D., D.D., Lawyer, Publicist, Editor, Professor, Author and Clergyman," Case and Comment, vol. 18 (19II).