William W. Upton

Infobox Judge
name = William W. Upton


imagesize =
caption =
office = 8th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
termstart = 1872
termend = 1874
nominator =
appointer =
predecessor = Paine Page Prim
successor = Benjamin F. Bonham
office2 = 17th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
termstart2 = 1867
termend2 = 1874
nominator2 =
appointer2 = George L. Woods
predecessor2 = Erasmus D. Shattuck
successor2 = Erasmus D. Shattuck
birthdate = July 11 1817
birthplace = Victor, New York
deathdate = death date and age|1896|1|23|1817|7|11|mf=y
deathplace = Washington, DC
spouse =

William W. Upton (July 11 1817-January 23 1896) was an American jurist and politician. He served as Oregon’s 8th Chief Justice of the state’s highest court. William Upton served from 1867 until 1874 on the Oregon Supreme Court before appointment to a position with the United States Treasury in 1877. A native of New York, he was elected to the state legislatures in Michigan, California, and Oregon.

Early life

Upton was born on July 11 1817 in Victor, New York.Corning, Howard M. "Dictionary of Oregon History". Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.] There he attended Lima Academy. Later he moved to Michigan, where in 1840 he was admitted to that state’s bar. He also served in the Michigan State Legislature.Ralph James Mooney; Raymond H. Warns, Jr. Governing a New State: Public Law Decisions by the Early Oregon Supreme Court. "Law and History Review", Vol. 6, No. 1. (Spring, 1988), pp. 25-93.] Then in 1852 he moved to California. In California he was elected to the state legislature in 1856. Then in 1861 he was the district attorney for Sacramento County, California.

Oregon

In 1865 William Upton immigrated north to Oregon. The following year he served in the Oregon House of Representatives as a Republican from Multnomah County. [ [http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/legislative/histleg/statehood/1866reg.htm Oregon Legislative Assembly (4th) 1866 Regular Session.] Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved January 11 2008.] Then in December 1867, Upton was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court by Oregon Governor George L. Woods to replace Erasmus D. Shattuck who had resigned. [http://www.bluebook.state.or.us/state/elections/elections27.htm Oregon Blue Book: Supreme Court Justices of Oregon.] Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved January 11 2008.] [http://bluebook.state.or.us/state/elections/elections24.htm Oregon Blue Book: Oregon Governors.] Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved January 11 2008.] The next year Upton won a full six-year term that ended in 1874. While on the bench he was chief justice from 1872 until 1874. He also wrote a 17 page dissent in the legislative delegation case of Brown v. Fleischner, 4 Or 132, (1871), which would be overturned using Upton’s argument in Shattuck v. Kincaid, 31 Or. 379 (1897). Former justice Shattuck would then replace Upton on the court.

Later life

Upon leaving the court, Upton was appointed to a position in the United States Treasury. President Rutherford B. Hayes made Upton the second comptroller of the Treasury in 1877. He kept that position until 1885 and then died on January 23 1896 in Washington, DC.

References