Samuel Foster Upham was born in Duxbury, Massachussets. His father, Frederick Upham, also a Methodist minister, was descended from John Upham who emigrated from England to Weymouth, Massachussets, in 1635. His mother, Deborah Bourne of Sandwich, Massachussets, was a descendant of Richard Bourne, missionary to the Indians, who died in Sandwich in 1682.
Samuel prepared for college at East Greenwich (R. I. ) Academy, and graduated from Wesleyan University in 1856.
After his studies, Upham was immediately admitted to the Providence Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church on trial, was ordained deacon in 1858, and elder in 1860. From the beginning of his ministry he was a popular preacher, and his advancement was rapid.
From 1856 to 1864 he served churches in Taunton, Massachussets, Pawtucket, R. I, New Bedford, Massachussets, and Bristol, R. I. In 1864 he transferred to the New England Conference, where at different times he was pastor of three Boston churches, and also of churches in Lowell, Lynn, and Springfield, Massachussets. In 1865 he was chaplain of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Appointed professor of practical theology at Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, N. J. , in 1880, he began his duties there on March 13, 1881, and continued in the performance of them until his death some twenty-three years later.
From 1871 until his death he was a trustee of Wesleyan University and from 1880 till his death, of the Methodist preparatory school, Wilbraham Academy, Wilbraham, Massachussets. He was a member of all the General Conferences from 1880 to 1904 inclusive; one of the board of managers of the Missionary Society and for sixteen years its representative on the General Missionary Committee; member and secretary of the committee on constitutional law and chairman of the hymnal commission, which prepared the official Methodist hymnal. On several occasions he received votes for the office of bishop.
Samuel Upham was one of the best known and most highly esteemed of the Methodist ministers of his day. His preaching was trenchant, practical, and arousing, and few were called upon more often for sermons and addresses on special occasions. In the councils of the Church and in the management of its institutions his influence was strong and lasting. As a member of the committee on itinerancy in the General Conference of 1900, he was instrumental in having the time limit to pastorates removed.
If some excelled him in learning and scholarly productivity, not many surpassed him in personal attractiveness, shrewd wisdom and sound judgment, ability and disposition to be helpful to individuals, and power to interest and influence an audience. He was a kindly, companionable, sagacious person with whom young and old felt at home, and at Drew he was the friend, counsellor, and prophet of many. He was blessed with wit and humor, was fond of his cronies, and "loved a joke no matter what its age" (Tipple, post, p. 108). He was an adept in the use of ridicule and could be merciless in exposing error.
Upham was married, April 15, 1857, to Lucy Graves Smith of Middletown, Connecticut. They had five sons.
