Wharton was born in Covesville, Albemarle County, Virginia; studied law at Dickinson College, was admitted to the Virginia bar, and practiced in Albemarle County.
Wharton also had five children with his second wife, his cousin, Elizabeth Auston Rice, of Virginia.
He was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George W. Campbell and served from March 17, 1814, to October 10, 1815,[2] when a successor was elected.
In 1832 he was named to the Board of Visitors of the United States Military Academy.
[3] Wharton died in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 22, 1833, one week before his fifty first birthday.