William Bingham
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William Bingham (1752–1804) was an American statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788 and served in the United States Senate from 1795 to 1801.
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William was born on March 8, 1752 in Philadelphia. He graduated from the Philadelphia College (now the University of Pennsylvania) in 1768. He married Anne Willing, and they had two daughters.
By the beginning of the American Revolution Bingham was regarded as one of the richest men in Pennsylvania. He was sent on diplomatic missions by the American Congress to Martinique and St. Pierre. Returning to America, he reprsented Pennsylvania as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788. In 1790 and 1791 he was a elected to the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives, serving as its speaker in 1791. About this time he became a major land developer, purhasing lands in upstate New York and 2 million acres (8,000 km²) in Maine.
Bingham was elected to Pennsylvania’s State Senate in 1794, and then named to the United States Senate where he served as a Federalist from 1795 to 1801. He was an active supporter of John Adams and when Adams was elected President, Bingham served as the Senate's President pro temp in the Fourth Congress.
Bingham died on February 7, 1804 in Bath, England and is interred in the Anney there. The city of Binghamton, New York is named in his honor.
Further reading
- Robert C. Alberts, "The Golden Voyage: The Life and Times of William Bingham"; 1969, Houghton Mifflin.
External link
- Bingham's Congressional biography (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000474)