Abel Parker Upshur

Abel Parker Upshur was born in Northampton County, Virginia in 1790, one of the twelve children of Littleton Upshur, a member of the Virginia Legislature and Captain in the army during the War of 1812. Young Upshur attended Princeton University, but was expelled for participating in a student rebellion. Not having graduated, he returned to Virginia to study law with a private firm and was admitted to the bar in 1810. Upshur served one term in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1812, was...See more

Abel Parker Upshur was born in Northampton County, Virginia in 1790, one of the twelve children of Littleton Upshur, a member of the Virginia Legislature and Captain in the army during the War of 1812. Young Upshur attended Princeton University, but was expelled for participating in a student rebellion. Not having graduated, he returned to Virginia to study law with a private firm and was admitted to the bar in 1810. Upshur served one term in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1812, was Commonwealth's Attorney for Richmond (1816-1823), ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Congress in 1826, was elected to the Virginia General Court in 1826, and was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830. Throughout his political career, Upshur was a staunch advocate of States' Rights. He defended the nullification movement in South Carolina in a series of letters entitled "An Exposition of the Virginia Resolutions of 1798." He was appointed U.S. Secretary of the Navy by President John Tyler in 1841 and succeeded Daniel Webster as Secretary of State in 1843. Upshur was one of several who were killed aboard the USS Princeton when one of the ship's guns exploded while on a Potomac cruise on February 28, 1844. He was buried at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. See less