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William Upham

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"Senator Upham" redirects here. For other uses, seeSenator Upham (disambiguation).
For the Governor of Wisconsin, seeWilliam H. Upham.

William Upham
Restored version of damaged original. Photo byMathew Brady,circa 1850. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
United States Senator
fromVermont
In office
March 4, 1843 – January 14, 1853
Preceded bySamuel C. Crafts
Succeeded bySamuel S. Phelps
Chairman of the VermontWhigState Central Committee
In office
1838–1841
Preceded byMilton Brown
Succeeded byHarry Bradley
Member of theVermont House of RepresentativesfromMontpelier
In office
1830–1831
Preceded byNaum Kelton
Succeeded byAzel Spaulding
In office
1827–1829
Preceded byArunah Waterman
Succeeded byNaum Kelton
State's AttorneyofWashington County, Vermont
In office
1829–1830
Preceded byDenison Smith
Succeeded byAzel Spaulding
Personal details
Born(1792-08-05)August 5, 1792
Leicester, Massachusetts,U.S.
DiedJanuary 14, 1853(1853-01-14)(aged 60)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting placeCongressional Cemetery,Washington, D.C.
Political partyNational Republican
Anti-Masonic
Whig
SpouseSarah Keyes (m. 1814–1853, his death)
Children4
EducationUniversity of Vermont(attended)
ProfessionAttorney
Signature

William Upham(August 5, 1792 – January 14, 1853) was an American attorney and politician fromMontpelier, Vermont.He was most notable for his service as aUnited States senatorfromVermont.

A native ofLeicester, Massachusetts,Upham was raised in Leicester and Montpelier, where his family moved in 1802. He was educated locally and worked on the family farm until he lost his right hand in an accident when he was fifteen. He then completed an academic course at Montpelier Academy and with local tutors in preparation tostudy law.He wasadmitted to the barin 1811 and practiced in Montpelier. Upham was an advocate for reform causes including temperance and the abolition of slavery, and changed his party affiliation several times as the anti-slavery movement grew and coalesced, going from theNational Republicansto theAnti-Masonic Partyto theWhigsin the 1830s. He was a leader of both the Anti-Masons and the Whigs, represented Montpelier in theVermont House of Representativestwice (1827–1829, 1830–1831), and served a term asState's AttorneyofWashington County(1829–1830).

In 1842, Upham was elected to the U.S. Senate. He was reelected in 1848 and served from March 4, 1843 until his death. As a senator, Upham opposed U.S. involvement in theMexican–American Warand the extension of slavery. He became ill in late 1852, and died in Washington, D.C., on January 14, 1853. He was believed to have contractedsmallpoxand was assumed to be contagious. As a result, his funeral was held quickly, and he was buried atCongressional Cemeteryin Washington rather than being returned to Vermont for burial.

Early life

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William Upham was born inLeicester, Massachusetts,on August 5, 1792, a son of Samuel Upham and Martha "Patty" (Livermore) Upham.[1]He moved with his family toMontpelier, Vermont,in 1802.[2]Upham worked on his family's farm and attended the district schools until age 15, when he sustained an injury after catching his hand in acider mill;all the fingers of his right hand were crushed, resulting in the amputation of his whole hand, including the fingers and palm.[2]Upham then followed an academic course with the intent of pursuing a professional career, and attended Montpelier Academy and classes with two private tutors.[2]He attended theUniversity of Vermont,thenstudied law,first with Cyrus Ward, then withSamuel Prentiss.[2][3]In 1835, the university awarded Upham thehonorary degreeofMaster of Arts.[4]

Early career

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Upham wasadmitted to the barin 1811 and commenced practice in Montpelier in partnership withNicholas Baylies,which they maintained for several years, after which Upham practiced as the senior partner of his own firm.[2]In addition to maintaining a successful practice, Upham also guided the efforts of several prospective lawyers who studied in his office, includingPeter T. Washburn.[2]

Upham became active in politics as a member of theNational Republican Party[5]and was an advocate for several reform causes including the abolition of slavery[6]and thetemperance movement.[7]He was a member of theVermont House of Representativesfrom 1827 to 1829 and wasState's AttorneyforWashington Countyfrom 1829 to 1830.[2]In 1830 he was again elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, and he served until 1831.[2]In the early 1830s, Upham joined the newAnti-Masonic Partyand he served as president of its 1832 Vermont state convention.[8]

In 1834, Upham was the unsuccessfulWhigand Anti-Masonic nominee for theUnited States House of Representativesin Vermont's 5th District.[9]The highest finishers were theDemocraticnominee,Isaac Fletcherand Upham.[9]Because neither received a majority, a second election was held; Upham declined to continue as a candidate, and the election was won by Whig and Anti-MasonHenry Fisk Janes,who defeated Fletcher.[10]In the mid 1830s, Upham served as chairman of Vermont's Whig Party.[11]In 1838, he was again an unsuccessful candidate for Congress, losing to Isaac Fletcher.[12]In 1840, he campaigned throughout the state forWhigpresidential nomineeWilliam Henry Harrison,who was elected.[2]

United States senator

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Illustration of Upham circa 1850, based on contemporary photo

In 1842 Samuel Prentiss resigned his seat in the U.S. Senate in order to accept appointment as judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Vermont.[13]Samuel C. Craftswas appointed to fill the vacancy, and served until the end of the term to which Prentiss had been elected, April 23, 1842, to March 3, 1843.[2]Crafts was not a candidate for a full term, and Upham was the successfulWhigcandidate for the seat.[2]He was reelected in 1848 and served from March 4, 1843, until his death.[14]While in the Senate, he was chairman of theCommittee on Agriculture(28th Congress) and theCommittee on Pensions(29th Congress).[13]

As an opponent of slavery, Upham argued against U.S. involvement in theMexican–American War,and introduced resolutions calling for immediate withdrawal from Mexico or a quick conclusion to the war.[2]He was an opponent of allowing slavery to extend beyond where it already existed, and voted against theFugitive Slave Act of 1850and other details related to theCompromise of 1850.[2]He was also a proponent of theWilmot Proviso,which would have prevented the U.S. from extending slavery into any territory acquired as a result of the Mexican War.[2]

Death and burial

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Upham died ofsmallpoxinWashington, D.C.,on January 14, 1853;[15][16]because he was believed to be contagious, his funeral was held quickly, and his remains were not returned to Vermont. He was buried atCongressional Cemetery.[17]

Quotations

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Family

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In 1814, Upham married Sarah Keyes; they were the parents of five children, four of whom lived to adulthood: William Keyes Upham (1817–1865), Charles Carroll Upham (1819–1868), Sarah Sumner (Upham) Langdon (1821–1888) and Mary Annette Upham (1825–1899), who died in theWindsor Hotel fire.[14][21][22]

Rice family and relations

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Upham was a descendant ofEdmund Rice,an English immigrant toMassachusetts Bay Colony,as follows:[1]

  • William Upham,son of
  • Martha Livermore (1768–1832),[23]daughter of
  • James Livermore, Jr. (1743–1825), son of
  • Elizabeth Rice (1713–1799), daughter of
  • Elisha Rice (1679–1761), son of
  • Thomas Rice (1626–1681), son of

See also

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References

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  1. ^abEdmund Rice (1638) Association, 2009. Descendants of Edmund Rice: The First Nine Generations.
  2. ^abcdefghijklmnUllery, Jacob G. (1894).Men of Vermont Illustrated.Brattleboro, VT: Transcript Publishing Company. pp. 117–118 – viaInternet Archive.
  3. ^Brainard, Charles H. (February 5, 1853)."Biographical Sketches of U.S. Senators -- No. 1".Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion.Vol. IV. Boston, MA: Frederick Gleason. p. 84 – viaInternet Archive.
  4. ^Thompson, Zadock(1842).History of Vermont, Natural, Civil and Statistical.Burlington, VT: Chauncey Goodrich. p. 152 – viaGoogle Books.
  5. ^"National Republican Meeting".Vermont Republican and Journal.Windsor, VT. May 14, 1830. p. 2 – viaNewspapers.com.
  6. ^Conn, Gina (April 16, 2015)."Montpelier Vermont abolitionist to take his place in history".Rutland Herald.Rutland, VT.
  7. ^"Temperance State Convention".Vermont Chronicle.Bellows Falls, VT. April 17, 1839. p. 4 – viaNewspapers.com.
  8. ^Eaton, Ebenezer (July 3, 1832)."Vermont Antimasonic State Convention".North Star.Danville, VT. p. 3 – viaNewspapers.com.
  9. ^abPalmer, William A. (September 29, 1834)."Legal Notice, 5th Congressional District Election".Vermont Patriot and State Gazette.Montpelier, VT. p. 3 – viaNewspapers.com.
  10. ^"Congressional Elections: Fifth District".The American.Middlebury, VT. December 2, 1834. p. 2 – viaNewspapers.com.
  11. ^"Whig State Convention".Vergennes Vermonter.Vergennes, VT. July 4, 1838. p. 2 – viaNewspapers.com.
  12. ^"Fifth District -- Official".Daily Vermont Patriot.Montpelier, VT. October 17, 1838. p. 2 – viaNewspapers.com.
  13. ^abCapace, Nancy (2007).Encyclopedia of Vermont.Santa Barbara, CA: Somerset Publishers. pp. 300–301, 316.ISBN978-0-403-09602-2– viaGoogle Books.
  14. ^abHemenway, Abby Maria(1882).The History of Washington County in the Vermont Historical Gazetteer.Montpelier, VT: Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press. pp. 454–457 – viaInternet Archive.
  15. ^Lowenthal, David (2000).George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation.Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 65.ISBN978-0-295-98315-8– viaGoogle Books.
  16. ^United States Senate (1989).Guide to the Records of the United States Senate at the National Archives, 1789-1989, Issue 7.Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 192.
  17. ^Spencer, Thomas E. (1998).Where They're Buried.Baltimore, MD: Clearfield Company, Inc. p. 146.ISBN978-0-8063-4823-0.
  18. ^Hamilton, Holman.Prologue to Conflict: The Crisis and Compromise of 1850.The University Press of Kentucky, 1964, 2005 p. 45.
  19. ^Bordewich, Fergus M.America's Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise of 1850.Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 2012 p. 125.
  20. ^Byrd, Robert C., Hall, Mary SharonSenate, 1789-1989, V. 1: Addresses on the History of the United States Senate.US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1988 p. 187.
  21. ^"Tragic Deaths in One Family".Burlington, VT.Burlington, VT. April 1, 1899. p. 6 – viaNewspapers.com.
  22. ^John Danner, ed. (1904).Old Landmarks of Canton and Stark County, Ohio.pp. 954–957.RetrievedSeptember 7,2023– viaArchive.org.Open access icon
  23. ^"Edmund Rice online database".Edmund Rice (1638) Association.RetrievedNovember 10,2009.
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U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 3) from Vermont
March 4, 1843 – January 14, 1853
Served alongside:Samuel S. PhelpsandSolomon Foot 		Succeeded by
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