Don A. J. Upham

Who was Don A. J. Upham?

Don Alonzo Joshua Upham was an American lawyer and Wisconsin politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

Upham was born in Weathersfield, Windsor County, Vermont in 1809.

He graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, in 1830, after which he taught mathematics for two years at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. After this, he studied law privately in New York City. After being admitted to the Delaware bar, he subsequently practiced in Wilmington. He soon married Elizabeth Smith Jacques to whom he was married until his death.

In 1837, Upham moved to the Territory of Wisconsin where he also worked as a lawyer. In 1840 he served as a member of the Territorial Council, the upper house in the territory's legislature. In 1846 he served as president of the First Wisconsin State Constitutional Convention. Upham served two terms as Mayor of Milwaukee, from 1849 to 1850.

In 1858, President James Buchanan appointed Upham United States Attorney for the District of Wisconsin, where he served until 1861.

Upham was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in 1851, but lost by less than one percent of the vote to Leonard J. Farwell, the Whig candidate.