William F. Wharton
William Fisher Wharton (June 28, 1847 – May 20, 1919), was a Boston attorney who served as the United States Assistant Secretary of State from 1889 to 1893. Early years William Fisher Wharton was born in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston, Massachusetts on June 28, 1847; he was the son of William Craig and Nancy W. Wharton. Both of his parents were well known in upper-class Boston society. William attended Harvard College, graduating in 1870 with honors in Greek, Latin and Ancient History. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1873 and was admitted to the bar not long afterwards. After traveling in Europe for several years, he began practicing law in Boston in 1875. In 1877, he married Fanny Pickman, but she died three years later. He subsequently remarried, to Susan Carberry Lay. He was the father of one son with his first wife, and a son and a daughter with his second wife. Massachusetts political career Wharton entered politics in late 1879, when he first ran for office. In December of that year, Boston elected a Democratic mayor, Frederick O. Prince, but Republicans won the majority in the Common Council (later known as the City Council); among