Franklin County, KY - Bios:  Major, Patrick Upshaw
Posted by Sandi Gorin on Mon, 04 Jan 1999
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Patrick Upshaw MAJOR 2697, Franklin Co. 

Surname: Major, Bohannan, Crittenden, Cromwell

Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky, by H. Levin, editor, 1897. 
Published by Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago. 
Reprinted by Southern Historical Press. p. 122. Franklin County.

PATRICK UPSHAW MAJOR, of Frankfort, was born in the capital city in the year 1822. 
His father, Samuel I. M. Major, who for many years served as deputy clerk of the 
United States courts at Frankfort, was born at Bryant Station, Kentucky, in 1792, 
his parents locating there after their entry into this state from Virginia. The 
family were among the earliest of English emigrants to the colony of Virginia and 
established a home in York county. One of the representatives of the named served 
as speaker of the house of burgesses of Virginia in 1665. On the paternal side Judge 
Major is also connected with Oliver Cromwell, the great commoner, his son, Richard 
Cromwell, having married Dorthea Major. The mother of the Judge, Mrs. Martha H. Major 
(nee Bohannan), was born in Woodford county, Kentucky, on a farm adjoining the 
Crittenden homestead, where Hon. J. J. Crittenden first saw the light. Her people 
were also Virginians, coming from Essex and Caroline counties, where several of her 
ancestors held the high office of justice through several generations. Patrick U. 
Major was educated in a private academy in Frankfort conducted by B. B. Sayre, a 
graduate of Kenyon College, of Ohio, and one of the most profound scholars and 
ablest teachers of his day. On leaving that institution Mr. Major entered the junior 
class of Union College, of Schenectady, New york, in 1840, and was graduated with 
honor in 1842. While in that school he became one of the founders of the Chi Psi 
society, was the first presiding officer of the same, and has always been one of 
its most loyal members. The organization is now one of the oldest, strongest and 
most conservative of the eastern fraternities. In its formation Judge Major was 
associated with such men as Major-General James C. Duane, Colonel Alexander C. 
Berthoud, Hon. James L. Witherspoon, Hon. William F. Terhune and Phillip Spencer, 
son of the secretary of war at that time. The society includes within its membership 
at the present time some of the most noted men of the nation, among whom are Chief 
Justice M. W. Fuller, Thomas B. Reed, speaker of the lower house of congress, and 
others. After his graduation at Union College in 1842 Mr. Major returned to Frankfort 
and studied law under the instruction of Hon. T. B. Monroe, then judge of the United 
States district court, and also under Hon. Charles S. Morehead, afterward governor of 
Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar in 1844 and in 1852 was elected county attorney 
on the Democratic ticket, the first member of that party ever elected by the people 
to any office in the county, which previously had been a Whig stronghold. In 1856 he 
was elected commonwealth attorney for the eighth judicial circuit, comprising eight 
counties, and for six years served in that capacity most acceptably to the public. 
In 1870 he was elected judge of the eleventh judicial circuit to fill a vacancy, and 
afterward at a regular election was chosen for a full term of six years. On retiring 
from the bench he resumed the active practice of law which he continued up to 1893, 
and even now occasionally appears as the representative of the interests of some old 
client. He has been connected with some of the most important litigation in his section 
of the state, including the trial of Gill versus the Robert heirs, tried in Shelby 
county circuit court and involving the title to fifteen hundred acres of land. He 
defended Bohannon in the case of the Commonwealth versus Bohannon, which was the means 
of settling the Kentucky law on the subject of self-defense and was one of the lawyers 
in the following: United States versus Williams et al, involving the cases of parties 
violating Kentucky law and indicted in the United States courts when negroes were the 
only witnesses; as was then the law, negroes could not testify in the state courts and 
such cases were commenced in the United States courts; also United States versus Kirby, 
which was finally tried in the United States supreme court, and involved the right of 
a state office to arrest a United States official for an offense against the state while 
executing a public duty, in which the action of the former was sustained; and the 
Commonwealth versus Terrell for the killing of Colonel Harry Meyers, as well as for 
defense in Commonwealth versus Stevens, who was acquitted of a charge of assassination 
on change of venue to the Henry county circuit court. Judge Major, while in active 
practice, was regarded as one of the most prominent representatives of the profession. 
Thoroughly versed in the science of jurisprudence and equally at home in every branch 
of the law, his defenses were able, logical and convincing. His arguments showed 
thorough preparation, and he lost sight of no fact that might advance his client's 
interests, and passed by no available point of attack in an opponent's argument. On 
the bench his rulings were ever just, incisive and incapable of misinterpretation. 
With a full appreciation of the majesty of the law he exemplified that justice which 
is the inherent right of every individual, and fearlessly discharged his duties with 
a loyalty to principle that knew no wavering. He has the sincere respect of the entire 
Kentucky bar, and has long occupied a place in the foremost ranks among its distinguished 
members. Judge Major is one of the most valued and honorable members of the Masonic 
fraternity, has taken twelve degrees in the York and thirty-two degrees in the Scottish 
rite, and is devoted to the principles of the order. He is also a worthy member of the 
Odd Fellows society. He has been a life-long communicant in the Episcopal church, and has 
ever been active in furthering those interests which promote the welfare of mankind. With 
him friendship is inviolable and he not only makes many friends but has the happy faculty 
of drawing them closer to him as the years pass by.