Wharton was active to near the end of his life both physically and in business affairs.
Until he was 72, he skated with guests on the pond at his Ontalauna estate near Philadelphia and would often go on walks with his family after dinner.
Throughout his life he partook in physical exercise, total abstinence from tobacco, and restricted use of even mild alcoholic drinks.
When he was nearly 80, he visited his Nevada silver mine by canoeing down the Colorado River and descending into the mine in a bucket, and when he was 81, he traveled to Germany with his grandson, Joseph Wharton Lippincott, to visit Kaiser Wilhelm II and had dinner on the kaiser's yacht.
He continued to oversee his holdings in coke manufacture in Pennsylvania and iron in northern New Jersey.

He read widely in literature and was an accomplished poet.
 Many of his poems were inspired by trips abroad.
 He wrote "Stewardson's Yarn" after an 1873 visit to Europe, "The Royal Palm" and "The 'Sweet Reasonableness' of a Yankee Philistine in Cuba" after a visit to Cuba to inspect mines there, and "Mexico" after an 1889 visit to the country of the same name.
 A domestic journey, to Nevada to see his gold mines there, resulted in "The Buttes of the Canyon".

In 1907 he was incapacitated by stroke and gradually worsened until his death in 1909.
 He is buried in the family plot at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Wharton was active to near the end of his life both physically and in business affairs. Until he was 72, he skated with guests on the pond at his Ontalauna estate near Philadelphia and would often go on walks with his family after dinner. Throughout his life he partook in physical exercise, total abstinence from tobacco, and restricted use of even mild alcoholic drinks. When he was nearly 80, he visited his Nevada silver mine by canoeing down the Colorado River and descending into the mine in a bucket, and when he was 81, he traveled to Germany with his grandson, Joseph Wharton Lippincott, to visit Kaiser Wilhelm II and had dinner on the kaiser's yacht. He continued to oversee his holdings in coke manufacture in Pennsylvania and iron in northern New Jersey.
He read widely in literature and was an accomplished poet.  Many of his poems were inspired by trips abroad.  He wrote "Stewardson's Yarn" after an 1873 visit to Europe, "The Royal Palm" and "The 'Sweet Reasonableness' of a Yankee Philistine in Cuba" after a visit to Cuba to inspect mines there, and "Mexico" after an 1889 visit to the country of the same name.  A domestic journey, to Nevada to see his gold mines there, resulted in "The Buttes of the Canyon".
In 1907 he was incapacitated by stroke and gradually worsened until his death in 1909.  He is buried in the family plot at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Joseph Wharton