Joseph Wharton - Summers

Summers

Wharton's family had long roots in Newport, Rhode Island and he summered there with his extended family at the family house on Washington Street for many decades. When his children were young, Wharton enjoyed taking them rowing and sailing about the harbor. Often they would sail across the bay to Conanicut Island to picnic and explore the cliffs and beaches. In 1882 Joseph Wharton, his brother Charles, and other friends purchased plots in Jamestown, Rhode Island, across the bay from Newport and built summer homes there. Wharton constructed Horsehead-Marbella, a large stone house with a prominent tower overlooking the entrance to Narragansett Bay. He named the house "Marbella" but it was later called "Horsehead" after a rock formation on the cliffs below that looked like the head of a horse from a certain angle. The family was active in swimming and sailing, and the grandchildren enjoyed playing on the rocks and tidal pools below the house. Wharton and his wife Anna enjoyed socializing but preferred the company of a few selected people to many, and avoided balls and late hours. In the early 1890s, the government surveyed sites on Conanicut Island for a coastal fort that would command the entrance to the bay, and took some of Wharton's property along with other nearby summer estates, starting construction of nearby Fort Wetherill in 1896. The fort took several years to finish and during this time the Horsehead property continued to be threatened so Wharton purchased an additional 247 acres (1.00 km2) in the southern part of Jamestown including several farms, one at Beavertail in 1899. The threatened action did not happen and the well-kept Horsehead property stands today as a glorious testament to the achievements of Wharton and the care of his descendants.