Veteran Bio

On page 27, army rolls in the General Land Office list the name of the men of Captain Hart's Company at muster at Velasco on January 30, and Mr. Wharton's name is shown on it. Richard Roman, First Lieutenant, succeeded Captain Hart in command. On page 221, army rolls, Mr. Wharton is listed as Second Sergeant of Captain Roman's Company at San Jacinto. He was issued Bounty Certificate No. 1780 for 1280 acres of land, January 12, 1838, for having served in the army from January 29, 1836 to January 29, 1837. This he sold in Harrisburg County, February 8, 1838 for $300.00 to Joseph W. Pilant (Harris County Bounty File No. 113)..He did not apply for the 640 acres of donation land he was entitled to receive for having participated in the battle of San Jacinto.

Mr. Wharton was living in Victoria County in 1839 when the land due him on his Headright Certificate was surveyed in what is now DeWitt County. He was a charter member of Matagorda (Masonic) Lodge No. 7 in 1838-39.

The names, slightly misspelled, of five men who participated in the battle of San Jacinto, C. W. Waldron, Francis F. Williams, James Wharton, Joseph Wilder and Samuel Woods, also appear as members of Captain Albert C. Horton's Company, Fannin's command, on a "List of Captain Horton's Company, whose names are found on register of Foreign Volunteers, but were not placed on the original muster rolls on file", in the Adjutant General's Office. A copy of the list is on file in the General Land Office. It is quite possible that all of the men whose names were given above did serve for a time in Captain Horton's Company, a very short time. They were among one hundred soldiers recruited mostly in New Orleans for the army of Texas and had arrived at Velasco, January 28, 1836 on board the schooner Pennsylvania. At Velasco two companies were organized from the recruits and from individuals arriving at that place. One company was enlisted as Regulars for a period of two years with Captain Amasa Turner in command. The men of the other company enlisted for a period of two years as Permanent Volunteers, electing John Hart as Captain and Richard Roman as First Lieutenant, Roman later becoming Captain. Waldron, Wharton, and Wilder originally joined Roman's Company. Woods and Williams were assigned to Turner's company, but Williams is known to have been transferred later to Roman's Company. It is quite probable that all five men were transferred for a brief time to Captain Horton's Company and then transferred back to their original companies. It seems to the compiler that if there was a reason for showing members of other companies of Fannin's command on the list of Foreign Volunteers is should likewise apply to Horton's men, who for the reasons given above could easily have been members of Horton's company for a short period.

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