Anson Judd Upson was born on November 7, 1823, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He was a clergyman and educator. He graduated from Hamilton College (B.A., 1843), Union College (M.A., 1844; D.D. 1870, LL.D, 1880), and Colgate University (L.H.D., 1895). He taught rhetoric and moral philosophy from 1849 to 1853 and logic and rhetoric from 1853 to 1870 at Hamilton College. He was ordained a Presbyterian clergyman in 1868 and became pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Albany. From 1870 to 1880, he taught sacred rhetoric at the Auburn Theological Seminary. In 1880, he was appointed professor at the University of the State of New York and, since 1890, he served as its Chancellor. He was the author of numerous literary and historical lectures, sermons, and addresses.

In 1860, he married Lydia Farlin Foster (1833–1912). He died on June 15, 1902, in Utica, New York.

Warren Upham was born on March 8, 1850, in Amherst, New Hampshire.

He was an American geologist, archeologist, and librarian. He graduated from Dartmouth College (B.A., D.Sc.) in 1871. Upham worked as an assistant geological surveyor in New Hampshire (1875-1878) before moving to Minnesota in 1879 to study its resources and glacial geology. He became associated with the U.S. Geological Survey in 1885 and remained with this organization until 1895 when he became secretary and librarian of the Minnesota Historical Society. He is best known for his work on Lake Agassiz, "The Glacial Lake Agassiz" (1895). The Minnesota Historical Society published his landmark 735-page volume on place name origins, “Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance” (1920). He was also an editor of the Minnesota Historical Society's collection from 1898 to 1920 and contributed articles on geology and Minnesota history to various journals and magazines. He was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Geological Society of America, Victoria Institute of London, the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences, Boston Society of Natural History, Archeological Institute of America, and a member of the American, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Mississippi Valley Historical Associations. Glacial Lake Upham in central Minnesota is named in his honour.

In 1885, he married Addie Minerva Bixby (1861–1933). He died on January 29, 1934, in Ramsey County, Minnesota.