William H. Upson

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William Hanford Upson (January 11, 1823 – April 13, 1910) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge from Ohio. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio’s 18th district from 1869 to 1873 and later held important posts in Ohio's judicial system.

Upson was born in Worthington, Ohio, to Daniel Upson and Polly Wright. He attended Tallmadge Academy and Western Reserve College, graduating in 1842. He studied law in Painesville with Reuben Hitchcock and spent a year at Yale Law School. Admitted to the bar in 1845, he began practicing law in Akron in 1846. He served as prosecuting attorney of Summit County from 1848 to 1850 and was a member of the Ohio Senate from 1853 to 1855. He also was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1864.

He was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1868 and served from 1869 to 1873, chairing the Committee on Private Land Claims from 1871 to 1873. He did not seek renomination in 1872. He returned to politics as a Republican delegate in 1876.

In 1883, Upson was appointed Associate Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court by Governor Charles Foster, serving from March 14 to December 8 of that year. He was elected as a judge of the Ohio circuit court in 1884 and served until 1894. He continued practicing law until his death in Akron in 1910 and was buried in Glendale Cemetery in Akron.

He married Julia A. Ford of Akron on May 20, 1856, and they had four children. Upson was also a trustee of Western Reserve College, Oberlin College, and the Lake Erie Female Seminary in Painesville.