Upton, John Cunningham (1828–1862)

Type: Biography

Published: 1952

Updated: July 1, 1995

John Cunningham Upton, settler and soldier, son of John and Ann (Cunningham) Upton, was born on a farm near Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee, on January 22, 1828. He attended the University of Lebanon in Tennessee. He went to California in 1850 and in 1859 moved to Colorado County, Texas, where he took charge of his mother's plantation. Apparently, he did not marry. In1861 he raised a company in the Fifth Texas Infantry that was attached to Hood's Texas Brigade. Upton rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel; he was killed in the second battle of Manassas on August 30, 1862. A West Texas county, established in 1887, was named in honor of Upton and his brother, William Felton Upton.

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Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas (New York: Southern, 1880). Zachary T. Fulmore, History and Geography of Texas As Told in County Names (Austin: Steck, 1915; facsimile, 1935). Zachary Taylor Fulmore, The History and Geography of Texas: As Told in County Names (Austin: E. L. Steck, 1915).

Time Periods:

Civil War

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

Randolph B. "Mike" Campbell, “Upton, John Cunningham,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed June 25, 2022, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/upton-john-cunningham.

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Original Publication Date:: 1952
Most Recent Revision Date:: July 1, 1995

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