Abel P. Upshur

Infobox US Cabinet official
name=Abel Parker Upshur

---

image_width=170px
order=13th
title=United States Secretary of the Navy
term_start=October 11, 1841
term_end=July 23, 1843
predecessor=George E. Badger
successor=David Henshaw
order2=15th
title2=United States Secretary of State
term_start2=July 24, 1843
term_end2=February 28, 1844
predecessor2=Daniel Webster
successor2=John C. Calhoun
birth_date=birth date|1790|6|17|mf=y
birth_place=Accomack County, Virginia, U.S.
death_date=death date and age|1844|02|28|1790|06|17
death_place=Potomac River
party=Whig
spouse=
profession=Politician, Lawyer
religion=Episcopalian

Abel Parker Upshur (June 17, 1790 – February 28, 1844) was an American lawyer, judge and politician from Virginia. Upshur was active in Virginia state politics and later served as Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of State during the Whig administration of President John Tyler. Upshur was instrumental in negotiating the secret treaty that led to the annexation of Texas to the United States and played a key role in ensuring that Texas was admitted to the United States as a slave state. He was among several people killed when a gun exploded during an official function on board the steam warship USS "Princeton".

Early life and political career

Upshur was born in the town of Pungoteague in Accomack County on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and attended Yale University and Princeton University. He studied law in Virginia and was admitted to the bar in 1810.

After spending time in Baltimore, Maryland, Upshur developed a thriving law practice in Richmond, Virginia, and was an active participant in state politics. He was elected to a term in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1812, was Commonwealth's Attorney for Richmond, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Congress, returned to the legislature in 1825, was an influential delegate to the Virginia State Constitutional Convention in 1829 to 1830 and was elected to the Virginia General Court.

Throughout his political career, Upshur was a stalwart conservative and advocate for states' rights. He opposed democratic reform at the Virginia Convention of 1829-30, backed the nullification movement in South Carolina, and defended slavery as a positive good. Upshur's conservative view of the Constitution received its fullest expression in his 1840 treatise, "A Brief Enquiry into the Nature and Character of our Federal Government: Being a Review of Judge Story's Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States".

ecretary of the Navy

Upshur's political reach became national when John Tyler became President of the United States in 1841 and selected him to become the 13th United States Secretary of the Navy in October of that year. His time with the Navy was marked by a strong emphasis on reform and reorganization and efforts to expand and modernize the service. He served from October 11, 1841 to July 23, 1843, and among his achievements were the replacement of the old Board of Navy Commissioners with the bureau system, regularization of the officer corps, increased Navy appropriations, construction of new sailing and steam warships, and the establishment of the United States Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office.

ecretary of State

In July 1843, President Tyler appointed Upshur United States Secretary of State, to succeed Daniel Webster, who had resigned. His chief accomplishment was advocating for the annexation of the Republic of Texas as a slave state. Upshur and Texas ambassador Isaac Van Zandt worked closely on the treaty of annexation until Upshur's untimely death. He was also heavily involved in the negotiations in the Oregon boundary dispute and was a strong advocate of bringing the Oregon Country into the union. He was eventually willing to settle on the 49th parallel compromise, although negotiations were not finished until after his death (and after the end of Tyler's term). [ Edward P. Crapol, "John Tyler and the Pursuit of National Destiny" [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/crapol.htm] ]

The USS "Princeton" explosion

On February 28, 1844, while joining the President and many other dignitaries for a Potomac River cruise on the new steamship USS "Princeton", Secretary Upshur and several others were killed when one of the ship's guns exploded. He is buried at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Honors

Two ships have been named in his honor:
* The destroyer USS "Abel P. Upshur" (DD-193) was originally commissioned in 1920, and later a Lend-Lease ship for Great Britain.
*

These places have been named in his honor:
* Upshur County, West Virginia
* Upshur County, Texas
* Upshur Streets in northwest Washington, D.C. and northwest Portland, Oregon

One of the persons killed along with Upshur was Capt. Thomas W. Gilmer, Navy Secretary. Both Upshur County, Texas and its county seat, Gilmer, Texas, were thus named for two victims of the USS "Princeton" explosion.

References

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-u/a-upshur.htm Naval Historical Center: Secretary Upshur]
* [http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/HTML/Pomp/Princeton1844.html Historical Congressional Cemetery: "Most Awful and Most Lamentable Catastrophe!"]
* [http://www.constitution.org/ups/upshur.htm Abel P. Upshur: "A Brief Enquiry into the Nature and Character of our Federal Government: Being a Review of Judge Story's Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States"] (full text)
* [http://nabbhistory.salisbury.edu/resources/wroten/wroten_aupshur.html Abel Parker Upshur - Delmarva Heritage Series]