William Upham

William Upham (* August 5, 1792 in Leicester, Worcester County, Massachusetts, † January 14, 1853 in Washington DC ) was an American politician ( Whig Party ), who represented the state of Vermont in the U.S. Senate.

William Upham was born in Massachusetts and moved to Montpelier in Vermont with his father in 1802. He attended the district schools and a local private school and was home schooled. In an accident in a cider mill he lost a hand when he was a boy. After studying law he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Montpelier. Many young lawyers studied with him the completed successful careers later, among them Peter T. Washburn, 1869-1870 Governor of Vermont.

Between 1827 and 1828 Upham was the first time a deputy in the House of Representatives from Vermont; another session joined there in 1830. In the meantime, he was in 1829 the public prosecutor in Washington County.

In 1842 he was elected for the Whigs in the U.S. Senate, in which he moved in on March 4, 1843. After a re-election, he remained there until his death in 1853 in Washington. He was the Agriculture Committee ( Committee on Agriculture ) and the Pension Committee ( Committee on Pensions ) before. In its work, the struggle against slavery occupied a special place. He described the institution as "crimes against humanity ".