William Upham

American attorney and politician

the Governor of Wisconsin

William Upham (August 5, 1792January 14, 1853) was an American attorney and politician from Montpelier, Vermont. He was most notable for his service as a United States senator from Vermont. A native of Leicester, 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 to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 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 the National Republicans to the Anti Masonic Party to the Whigs in the 1830s. He was a leader of both the Anti Masons and the Whigs, represented Montpelier in the Vermont House of Representatives twice (1827–1829, 1830–1831), and served a term as State's Attorney of Washington 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 the Mexican–American War and 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 contracted smallpox and was assumed to be contagious. As a result, his funeral was held quickly, and he was buried at Congressional Cemetery in Washington rather than being returned to Vermont for burial.

William Upham was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, on August 5, 1792, a son of Samuel Upham and Martha "Patty" (Livermore) Upham. He moved with his family to Montpelier, Vermont, in 1802. 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 a cider mill; all the fingers of his right hand were crushed, resulting in the amputation of his whole hand, including the fingers and palm. In 1835, the university awarded Upham the honorary degree of Master of Arts.

Upham was admitted to the bar in 1811 and commenced practice in Montpelier in partnership with Nicholas Baylies, which they maintained for several years, after which Upham practiced as the senior partner of his own firm. and was an advocate for several reform causes including the abolition of slavery and the temperance movement. He was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1827 to 1829 and was State's Attorney for Washington County from 1829 to 1830. In 1834, Upham was the unsuccessful Whig and Anti Masonic nominee for the United States House of Representatives in Vermont's 5th District. The highest finishers were the Democratic nominee, Isaac Fletcher and Upham. In the mid 1830s, Upham served as chairman of Vermont's Whig Party. In 1838, he was again an unsuccessful candidate for Congress, losing to Isaac Fletcher. In 1840, he campaigned throughout the state for Whig presidential nominee William Henry Harrison, who was elected. Samuel C. Crafts was 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. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture (28th Congress) and the Committee on Pensions (29th Congress). because he was believed to be contagious, his funeral was held quickly, and his remains were not returned to Vermont. He was buried at Congressional Cemetery.

" Slavery is a crime against humanity and a sore evil in the body politic."

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 the Windsor Hotel fire.