"Who now can hear any thing of the sound of h in a numerous class of words when pronounced by a Philadelphian? The words what, when, where, wheel, which, wharf, and a hundred others, are pronounced by the unlearned, and alas ! by the learned, exactly thus, wat, wen, were, weel, witch, warf, &.C. "-Piomingo, "The Savage" 1810
It is my understanding that in many parts of the country “wh” was at one time actually pronounced inverted, as something like “hwut” for “what”. It is still pronounced that way in some regions, but not in most.