degree of Master of Arts. Early career 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. In addition to maintaining a successful practice, Upham also guided the efforts of several prospective lawyers who studied in his office, including Peter T. Washburn. Upham became active in politics as a member of the National Republican Party 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 1830 he was again elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, and he served until 1831. In the early 1830s, Upham joined the new Anti-Masonic Party and he served as president of its 1832 Vermont state convention. 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. 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-Mason Henry Fisk Janes, who defeated Fletcher. 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. United States senator In 1842 Samuel Prentiss resigned his seat in the U.S. Senate in order to accept appointment as judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont. 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. Crafts was not a candidate for a full term, and Upham was the successful Whig candidate for the seat. He was reelected in 1848 and served from March 4, 1843 until his death. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture (28th Congress) and the Committee on Pensions (29th Congress). As an opponent of slavery, Upham argued against U.S. involvement in the Mexican–American War, and introduced