He was the largest shareholder in Bethlehem Steel, held multiple investments in railroads, and owned vast amounts of land containing iron, coal, copper and gold ores.

[4] Wharton's youth was spent in the family's house near Spruce and 4th streets in Center City Philadelphia and at Bellevue, a country mansion near the Schuylkill River.

[7] At age 16, his health became a concern and he moved to East Fallowfield Township, Chester County,[8] to work on the farm of Joseph and Abigail Walton for three years.

During the winter months, he returned to Philadelphia and studied in the chemistry laboratory of Martin Hans Boyè and learned French and German languages.

[1] He brought in experienced workers from Belgium, built sixteen furnaces and by 1863 had produced nine million pounds of spelter.

[20] The Camden plant was located on the east side of 10th Street, adjacent to Cooper Creek, and had several large brick buildings and smokestacks.

In July 1868, the plant burned down but was quickly rebuilt with brick and stone replacing the original wood structure.

[14] For the next 25 years,[22] Wharton's operations were the largest nickel manufacturer in the United States[15] and produced 17% of the world's supply.

[23] After the American Civil War, demand for coinage declined and the amount of nickel purchased from Wharton by the United States Mint decreased.

Wharton started purchasing land in South Jersey in the 1870s, eventually acquiring 150 square miles (390 km2) in the Pinelands, which contained an aquifer replenished by several rivers and lakes.

Wharton suggested that a city-controlled company could develop the necessary water mains and pump, funded by public purchase of stocks and bonds.

He started several enterprises on South Jersey property, including a menhaden fish factory that produced fertilizer,[13] a modern forestry planting operation, and cranberry and sugar beet farms.

[32] Wharton was a scientist interested in the natural world, and wrote scientific papers on a variety of topics including astronomy and metallurgy, presenting several to the American Philosophical Society.

Wharton was curious, and one morning when a light snow was falling, collected some from a field near his house, melted and evaporated it, studying the remaining particles under a microscope, which he had on hand for metallurgy.

Wharton obtained some pumice from one of the ship's crew, compared it with the dust he had collected, and found almost identical particles.

[36][37] Wharton also wrote a paper about the use of the Doppler effect on the color of light emitted by binary stars to determine their distance from Earth, and made the analogy to a train whistle which changes tone as it passes.

Swarthmore filled an important need of a college where both men and women could receive a high-quality education in the tradition of Friends not dominated by religion.

Wharton conceived of a school that would teach how to develop and run a business, and to anticipate and deal with the cycles of economic activity.

In 1881, Wharton donated $100,000 to the University of Pennsylvania to found a "School of Finance and Economy" to help students succeed in business.

[13] He insisted that the Wharton School faculty educate on economic protectionism, similar to the lobbying he had done for American businesses in Washington.

[clarification needed] The Wharton School was the first to include such a practical focus on business, finance, and management.

Wharton lived apart from the family while managing the zinc works in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Anna cared for their child at their home in Philadelphia.

He purchased a 63-acre estate in the Branchtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, and built a Second Empire style mansion he named "Ontalauna".

[47] In the 1880s, Wharton purchased land in Jamestown, Rhode Island, and built an estate he named "Marabella" for usage as a summer residence.