Born near Mount Pleasant, Ohio, he descendant of the German Op den Graeff family. Jonathan was the son of David Updegraff, a Quaker minister, and grandson of Nathan Updegraff, a delegate to Ohio's first constitutional convention. Updegraff attended private schools and Franklin College. He studied medicine. He was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1845 and later from medical schools in Edinburgh and Paris. Although he practiced his profession, he devoted a large share of his time to agricultural pursuits. He served as a surgeon in the Union Army during the Civil War. He served in the State senate in 1872 and 1873. Presidential elector for Grant/Wilson in 1872. He served as delegate to the Republican State convention in 1873 and to the 1876 Republican National