Nathaniel Gookin Upham

Nathaniel Gookin Upham was a judge in Concord, New Hampshire. He served as an associate justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court for ten years. He later became the President of the Concord Railroad. Late in his life, he served in the state legislature and occasionally called upon to mediate disputes between the United States and foreign nations.

Biography Nathaniel Gookin Upham was born on January 8, 1801, as the second child of Nathaniel Upham. The Gookin family were early settlers to the United States, first arriving in 1635. The elder Gookin was a prominent businessman who would later serve three terms in the United States House of Representatives. Nathaniel Gookin's elder brother was Thomas Cogswell Upham, who would become a distinguished professor at Bowdoin College.

Nathaniel Gookin Upham studied at Exeter Academy. He was accepted at Dartmouth College in 1816, where he graduating with honors in 1820. Upham returned to Rochester to study law under David Barker Jr. Upham was admitted to the bar and opened a law firm in Bristol. The practice was successful, and he moved it to Concord in 1829.

Personal life Upham had a great interest in history, particularly biography. He became a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society in 1833, and later serve three years as its president. Upham joined the New England Historic Genealogical Society in 1855. He was a member of the First Congregationalist Church in Concord from 1829 to 1837. He was a charter member of the South Church in 1837; when a fire destroyed the building in 1859, he helped raise funds for a new building.