Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/240

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UPSHUR
UPTON

by President Tyler to fill that of secretary of the navy. On the resignation of Daniel Webster, in 1843, he was made secretary of state. In politics he belonged to the extreme state-rights pro-slavery school of the south. Early in 1844 he was on the U. S. steamer " Princeton," on Potomac river, in company with the president and the other members of the cabinet, to witness experiments with a large wrought-iron gun, which burst on being fired the third time and killed him together with several others. Judge Upshur, besides a number of essays and addresses, published " Brief Inquiry into the True Nature and Character of our Federal Govern- ment : Review of Judge Joseph Story's Commen- taries on the Constitution" (Petersburg, Va.. 1840). — His brother, George Parker, naval officer, b. in Northampton county, Va., 8 March, 1799; d. in Spezzia, Italy, 3 Nov., 1852, entered the navy as a midshipman, 23 April, 1818, was promoted to lieu- tenant, 3 March, 1827, and served on the Brazil sta- tion in the " Lexington " in 1832-4 at the attack and dispersion of the pirates on Falkland islands. He commanded the brig "Truxtun" on her first cruise in the Mediterranean in 1843-'4, and served in the receiving-ship at Norfolk in 1844-'7. He was commissioned a commander, 27 Feb., 1847, and was superintendent of the naval academy at Annapolis in 1847-'50. He took command of the sloop "Levant" at Norfolk, 12 July, 1852, joined the Mediterranean squadron, and died on board ship while in command at Spezzia. — Their nephew, John Henry, naval officer, b. in Northampton county, Va., 5 Dec, 1823, changed his name from Nottingham to that of his mother, Upshur, when he entered the navy to gratify her wish, as the Upshur family was conspicuous in naval annals. He became a midshipman, 4 Nov., 1841, and cruised in the sloop "St. Mary's" in 1843-6, in which he joined the squadron in the Gulf of Mexico during the Mexican war. He served in the naval battery during the bombardment of Vera Cruz, 10 to 25 March, 1847, and after the fall of that city he at- tended the naval school, becoming a passed mid- shipman, 10 Aug., 1847. He was promoted to master, 18 July, 1855, and to lieutenant, 14 Sept., 1855, served in the frigate " Cumberland " on the coast of Africa to suppress the slave-trade in 1858-'9, and was an instructor at the naval academy in 1859- '61. When the war began he was as- signed to the North Atlantic blockading squadron, and par- ticipated in the cap- ture of the forts at Hatteras inlet and in the sounds of North Carolina in 1861. He was execu- tive officer of the steam frigate " Wa- bash " at the cap- ture of Port Royal, and commanded four boats in Com-

mander C. R. P.

Rodgers's expedition in the inland coast waters in the vicinity of Port Royal and Beaufort, S. C. He was in charge of the steamer " Flambeau," of the South Atlantic blockading squadron, in 1862-'3 in operations on the coast of South Carolina. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, assigned to the steam frigate " Minnesota," of the North Atlantic blockading squadron, in 1863-'4, and had the steamer "A. D. Vance" (a blockade-runner whose name was changed to the M Frolic ") in l864-'5, in which he took part in both engagements at Fort Fisher. He was promoted to commander, 25 July, 1866, and given the " Frolic," on the Mediterranean station, in 1865-'7. After promotion to captain, 31 Jan., 1872, he served as a member of the board of inspectors in 1877-'80. He had a leave of absence, during which he vis- ited Europe, in 1880, and upon his return was a member of the board of examiners. He was com- mandant of the Brooklyn navy-yard in 1882-'4, and commander-in-chief of the Pacific station in 1884-'5. He was promoted to rear-admiral, 1 Oct., 1884, ard was voluntarily placed on the retired list, 1 June, 1885. — A niece, Mary Jane Stith, poet, b. in Accomac county, Va., 7 April, 1828, was educated entirely at home, and early began writing for the press. On the death of her father, in 1869, she removed from Norfolk, Va., to New York city, and on 2 July, 1870, married Josiah R. Sturges. Mrs. Sturges was one of the organizers and the first president of the Harlem free hospital and dis- pensary for women and children. She has con- tributed to southern periodicals both prose and poetry, commonly under the pen-name of " Fanny Fielding." Her principal work is "Confederate Notes," an historical novel, which appeared anony- mously in 1867 in the " Home Monthly," published at Nashville, Tenn.


UPSON, Ansel Judd, clergyman, b. in Phila- delphia, Pa., 7 Nov., 1823. He was graduated at Hamilton college in 1843, and began to study law in Utica, but became a tutor in Hamilton in 1845, and in 1849 was made adjunct professor of rhetoric and moral philosophy. From 1853 till 1870 he held the chair of logic, rhetoric, and elocution, and then, after serving as pastor of the 2d Presby- terian church in Albany, he became in 1880 pro- fessor of sacred rhetoric and pastoral theology in Auburn theological seminary. Hamilton gave him the degree of D. D. in 1870, and Union that of LL. D. in 1880. He has been a regent of the State university since 1874. and a member of the gen- eral assembly of his church in 1871 and 1877. Dr. Upson has a high reputation as an instructor and trainer of young men for public speaking. He has delivered many lectures, and, besides contributions to periodicals, has published numerous addresses.


UPTON, Emory, soldier, b. in Batavia, Genesee co., N. Y., 27 Aug., 1839 ; d. in San Francisco, Cal., 14 March, 1881. He was educated at Oberlin college and at the U. S. military academy, where he was graduated in May, 1861, eighth in a class of forty-five, and made 2d lieutenant in the 4th artillery. On 14 May he became 1st lieutenant in the 5th artillery. During the first year of the civil war he was assigned to duty in the defences of Washington, and was present at Bull Run, where he was wounded. He commanded his battery during the early part of 1862 in the Virginia peninsular campaign, including all actions to Glendale, and subsequently a regiment and brigade of artillery in the Maryland campaign. He was appointed colonel of the 121st New York volunteers in October, 1862, and was conspicuously engaged at the head of a brigade of the 6th corps, Army of the Potomac, until the close of 1863. He received the brevet of major on 8 Nov., 1863, for gallant service at the battle of Rappahannock Station, Va. During the Wilderness campaign of 1864 he bore an active Eart, especially at Spottsylvania. where he won the revet of lieutenant-colonel, U. S. A., 10 May, 1864, and was wounded while leading the assaulting