When Adkins Upshaw was born on 19 April 1801, in Elbert, Georgia, United States, his father, Forrester Upshaw, was 29 and his mother, Ann Faulkner, was 30. He married Mary Martha Herring on 7 September 1824, in Morgan, Georgia, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Coweta, Georgia, United States for about 10 years and Carrollton, Carroll, Georgia, United States in 1870. He died on 18 September 1885, in Shady Grove, Carroll, Georgia, United States, at the age of 84, and was buried in Carrollton, Carroll, Georgia, United States.