Don Alonzo Joshua Upham was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer and Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin

Democratic Party of Wisconsin

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Wisconsin. As of 2009, it is headed by state party chairman Mike Tate, who is the youngest chairman of a state party...

.

Upham was born in Weathersfield

Weathersfield, Vermont

Weathersfield is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,788 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 44.2 square miles , of which 43.8 square miles is land and 0.4 square mile is...

, Windsor County, Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

 in 1809.

He graduated from Union College

Union College

Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...

 in Schenectady, New York

Schenectady, New York

Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...

, in 1830, after which he taught mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

 for two years at the University of Delaware

University of Delaware

The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

 in Newark, Delaware

Newark, Delaware

Newark is an American city in New Castle County, Delaware, west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is the home of the University of Delaware.- History :...

. After this, he studied law privately in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. After being admitted to the Delaware bar, he subsequently practiced in Wilmington

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

. 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

James Buchanan

James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....

 appointed Upham United States Attorney

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

 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

Leonard J. Farwell

Leonard James Farwell was an American politician and the second Governor of Wisconsin.Farwell was born in Watertown, New York, and moved to Wisconsin in the 1840s, prior to its statehood...

, the Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

 candidate.

He is buried in Forest Home Cemetery

Forest Home Cemetery

Forest Home Cemetery located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the final resting place of many of the city's famed beer barons, politicians and social elite...

in Milwaukee.