Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. III, Part 68

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 876

USA > New Hampshire > Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. III > Part 68

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(II) According to the records in the parish of St. Peters and Holy Trinity, of Sheffield, Deacon Thomas, the fifth son and sixth child of Henry and Ann ( Stenton) Bingham, was baptized June 5. 1642. He died January 16. 1730, at the age of eighty-eight years, in Windham, Connecticut. His father died when he was small, and his mother married Wil- liam Backus. Senior, with whom she and her son came to this country. They are first found on record at Saybrook, Connecticut. whence they re- moved to Norwich, with three daughters and two sons of Mr. Backus; and Thomas Bingham was among the first proprietors of that town. The

mother died in May. 1670. having survived her second husband. William Backus, who died before 1664. Thomas Bingham is found among the landed ' proprietors of Norwich, as recorded in April. 1660. He was made a freeman by the General Court. in 1671. ITis name is found on the list of twenty-two

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approved residents of Windham, Connecticut, May 30, 1693. In 1695. he was sergeant of the militia, and selectman of that town. He bought, April 21, 1093, one thousand acres in the southeast part of Windham. He was senior deacon of the church on its organization, December 10, 1700, and so con- tinned until his death, being accorded the most honorable position at the seating of the church, April 17, 1703. He was married December 12, 1666, to Mary Rudd, supposed to have been a daughter of Lieutenant Jonathan Rudd. She was born in 1648 and died August 4, 1726. Two of his children were born in Norwich and the others in Windham. They were named as follows: Thomas, Abel, Mary, Jona- than, Ann, Abigail, Nathaniel, Deborah, Samuel, Joseph and Stephen. All except the third son had families, and all lived in Windham except Thomas and Abigail, who resided in Norwich, and Steven in Albany, towns adjoining Windham.

(III) Thomas (2), eldest child of Thomas (1)

and (Rudd ) Bingham, was born December 11, 1667, in Norwich, Connecticut, and died April 5. 1710. He settled in Norwich and succeeded his father as one of the proprietors of the town. He was married February 17, 1692, to Hannah, daughter of Lieutenant William Backus, and all of his chil- dren were probably born in Norwich, namely : Thomas, Abel, Jeremiah, Hannah. Mary, Dorothy, Jabez, Nathaniel and Joseph. (The last named and descendants receive extended mention in this article ).

(IV) Deacon Abel, second son and child of Thomas (2) and Hannah ( Backus) Bingham, was born June 25, 1669, in Norwich, Connecticut, and died March 25, 1745, in Windham. He resided in Stratfield until 1707, when he removed to Windham and bought land in the south part of the town on the east side of Memaguage Hill, on May 21. He was an admitted inhabitant of the town January 12, 1708, and was deacon of the First Church in 1729. Ile was selectman and representative in the general court. He was a pious and honorable citizen, and his will was made April 25, 1734. He married Eliza- beth Odell, and their children were: Abigail. Mary, John, Elizabeth. Abel, Ann, Jemima, Jonathan and David.

(V) Jonathan. third son and eighth child of Deacon Abel and Elizabeth ( Odell ) Bingham, was born August 17, 1712, in Windham, and died Febru- ary 16, 1800. He was adopted by and lived with his uncle. Jonathan Bingham. in Windham, who was childless, and he inherited his homestead. He was married ( first ), May 9, 1734, to Mary, daughter of Ebenezer Abbe. She died March 4, 1735, being the mother of one child. Dercon Jonathan Bingham, who was born February 20. 1735. Mr. Bingham married ( second ), January 17. 1736, Sarah, widow of Mala- tiah Vinton. of Stoneham, Massachusetts. She died March 5, 1803. at the age of ninety-three years. Her children were: Mary, Malatiah, Elisha, Phoebe and Naomi.

(VI) Deacon Jonathan (2), only child of Jon- athan (I) and Mary Abbe Bingham, was born Feb- ruary 20, 1735, and resided for a time in Mansfield, Connecticut, where he married Elizabeth, daughter of Elisha Warner, of that town. Subsequent to 1767 he removed thence to Cornish. New Hampshire, where he cleared up a farm in the wilderness and continued the remainder of his life, dying March 9. 1812. He was a man of strong influence, and was very firm in his religious convictions and was said to be gifted in prayer. In discussing some religious points with a neighbor he said: "It is planned that

one of us has got to go to Heaven." He is de- scribed in old age as being somewhat bald, with very white hair, and venerable appearance. It is evident that he was married a second time, as the records show that his wife Abigail died June 18, 1812, in her seventy-fourth year. They also record the death of his daughter Amy on April 5, 1801, in her twenty- third year. He had two children born in Mansfield, Connecticut. and two in Cornish (perhaps others ), namely: Elisha W., Erastus (born April 17, 1767), Frederick and Amy.

(VII) Elisha Warner, eldest child of Deacon Jonathan and Elizabeth (Warner) Bingham, was born March 23, 1765, in Mansfield, Connecticut, and was a small child when he removed with his par- ents to Cornish, New Hampshire. There he grew up and engaged in farming. About 1797 he went to Concord, in Essex county. Vermont, and began the clearing of a farm. Not long after he settled there with his family, and while going down the river for supplies of some sort, he contracted measles, which caused his death at Concord, March 30, 1802, at the age of thirty-seven years. The maiden name of his wife, who was a native of Pomfret, Vermont, was Perry. She died at Concord in 1844 at the age of seventy-seven years. Their children were: Perry, Warner. Tyler, Robert and Tracy.

(VIII) Warner, second son of Elisha W. Bing- ham, was born April 10, 1789, in Cornish, New Hampshire, grew up in Concord, Vermont, and was for many years a farmer in West Concord. His latter years were passed in Bethlehem, New Hamp- shire, where he had a small farm and where he died February 12, 1872. He was a man of much intelli- gence and worth, and served as state senator of Ver- mont in 1842; and in 1844 was elected assistant judge of Essex county. He was married (first) . in 1814. to Lucy Wheeler, daughter of John Wheeler. She was born October 1, 1704. in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, and died October 23, 1839. in Concord, Vermont. Mr. Bingham married (second). in 1840, Laura II., daughter of John Rankin. She was born February 20, 1800, in Danville, Vermont, and sur- vived her husband more than six years, dying June 15, 1878. in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. The chil- dren of the first wife were: John, Lorenzo. Harry, Lucy Ann, George Azro (mentioned at length be- low ). Edward Franklin and Edith. The children of the second wife were: Horatio. Laura, and James Warner. all born in Concord. Lucy Wheeler. first wife of Warner Bingham, was a granddaughter of Joseph Wheeler, a native of Massachusetts, born about 1720. He settled in Chesterfield, New Hamp- shire, where he died about 1805. His son, Captain John. born May 1, 1770. in Chesterfield, died Novem- ber IQ, 1838. He was married in 1791 to Lucy, daughter of Thomas Holmes. She was born April 28, 1773, and died December 30, 1861, in Concord, Vermont. Their daughter Lucy became the wife of Warner Bingham, as above noted.

(IX) Ilarry, third son of Warner and Lucy ( Wheeler) Bingham, was born in Concord. Ver- mont. March 30. 1821. He was prepared for his collegiate course at the Lyndon (Vermont) Acad- emy. and took his bachelor's degree at Dartmouth College with the class of 1843. He was subsequently a law student in the office of Hon. Harry Hibbard, of 'Bath, and was admitted to the Grafton county bar at Lancaster, in the spring of 18446. While a student at Dartmouth, and also during his legal studies, he earned a considerable portion of the means necessary for defraying his educational ex-

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penses by teaching in district schools and academies at St. Johnsbury, Woodstock. Concord Corners, Waterford and Wells River, Vermont. In Septem- ber following his admission to the bar he established himself in the practice of law at Littleton, New Hampshire, and resided there ever since. During the early years of his professional career he had as contemporaries Henry A. Bellows, Harry Hibbard and Ira Goodall, all of whom were legal lights of high magnitude at the Grafton bar, and although lacking the experience of those distinguished attor- neys, he was otherwise fully equipped to meet them as opponents in the arena of law. In 1852 his brother, George A. Bingham, became associated with him in practice, they together constituting a law firm that in all probability has never been surpassed in the Granite State, and their business rapidly ex- panded into large proportions, calling them into many important cases, not only in the Northern cir- cuit of New Hampshire, but also to the federal courts and those of other states. The Bingham Brothers practiced together exclusively until 1859, when the law firm of Woods & Bingham was organ- ized, with offices in Littleton and Bath, and it con- tinted until dissolved by mutual consent in 1862. in which latter year the old firm of H. & G. A. Bing- lam was re-established. Some ten years later the brothers considered it advisable to separate, and dur- ing the next thirty years Mr. Harry Bingham was associated at different times with several younger aspirants for legal fame, whose professional train- ing was acquired under his careful guidance. At the present time he is the senior partner in the firm of Bingham, Mitchells & Batchellor, his asscciates being John M. Mitchell, Albert S. Batchellor and William H. Mitchell, and in addition to the home office in Littleton the firm maintains a branch office in Concord, New Hampshire, which is in charge of John M. Mitchell.

In politics Mr. Bingham is a Democrat, and lias been regarded as one of the most astute and in- tellectual party leaders in this state for more than a quarter of a century. For a period of eighteen years he represented Littleton in the lower house of the state legislature ; was a member of the state sen- ate from the Grafton district for two terms; was a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1876, in which he served as chairman of one of its most im- portant committees, that of legislative affairs ; and as such he wielded a weighty influence in the de- liberations of that body. Upon three different oc- casions he has been a candidate for representative to congress ; has many times been presented to the legislature as his party's candidate for the United States senate ; has attended as a delegate three Dem- ocratic national conventions ; and in numerous other ways has been the recipient of high honors in recognition of his ability and long-continued service in the interest of his party. His profes-ional and political attainments are considered by many who are competent to judge, as superior to those of most of his contemporaries, and his labors both at the bar and in the halls of legislation have done honor to his state. In 1880 Mr. Bingham received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Dartmouth College.

(1X) George Azro, fourth son and fifth child of Warner and Lucy ( Wheeler) Bingham, was born in Concord, Vermont, April 25, 1826. His early edu- cation was obtained in the schools of his native town. and at St. Johnsbury Academy. When twenty years of age he became a law student in the office of the Hon. Thomas Bartlett, Jr., of Lyndon, Vermont, a

leading attorney of his day in that locality, and was admitted to the Caledonia county bar in December. 1848. Naturally studious and eager to attain speedy advancement, his legal studies were marked by the same diligent application to the work in hand which ever characterized his professional efforts and con- stituted in no small measure the fundamental prin- ciple of his success. Soon after his admission to the bar he went to Burlington, Iowa, with a view of entering upon the practice of his profession there, but not being satisfied with the outlook, he returned lo Lyndon in July. 1849, and entered into a partner- ship with his preceptor, Mr. Bartlett, under the firm name of Bartlett & Bingham. Upon the election of Mr. Bartlett to congress some two years later, George W. Roberts was admitted to the firm, which then adopted the style of Bartlett, Bingham & Roberts. During the absence of the senior partner the preparation and direction of several important cases devolved upon Mr. Bingham, who brought them to a successful termination. Owing to the re- districting of the state in 1852, Mr. Bartlett decided not to seek a re-election to congress, and resumed his active connection with the firm. Mr. Bingham then found it advisable to dispose of his interest to his partners, and going to Littleton, Grafton county, New Hampshire. he became associated in practice with his brother Harry, as H. & G. A. Bingham. In 1850 they formed a law partnership with Hon. An- drew S. and Edward Woods, having offices in Lit- tleton and Bath, the latter in charge of Judge Woods and George A. Bingham, while the Littleton business was managed by Harry Bingham and Edward Woods. This copartnership expired by limitation in 1862, when George A. Bingham resumed the prac- tice of law in company with his brother in Littleton, and the firm of H. & G. A. Bingham, which was an unusually strong legal combination, continued to transact a prosperous and lucrative business until its dissolution in 1870. Remaining in Littleton, Mr. George A. Bingham practiced his profession success- fully until 1876, when he was appointed an associate justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. His law business at this time was large and included about four hundred cases pending in the various courts. From a financial point of view it was cer- tainly an inducement for him to remain at the bar. but he accepted the judgeship. for which he possessed marked qualifications, and remained upon the bench until 1880, when he resigned. In January. 18SI, he associated himself in practice with Edgar Aldrich. In 1882, Daniel C. Remich was admitted to the partnership and the firm became known as Bing- ham. Aldrich & Remich. This firm continued until December, 1884, when its senior member was again appointed to the supreme bench. Although his sec- ond appointment, like the first. necessitated the ex- change of his lucrative position at the bar for one of less financial remuneration, he considered it a re- call to duty and accepted it as such. Upon the bench he applied himself just as diligently to the require- ments of justice and equity as he had formerly done in the interests of his clients, and as a jurist he not only interpreted the laws impartially but upheld them with lic nor and dignity. As a lawyer Mr. Bingham's ability cannot be too highly estimated. A detailed account of the many important cases with which lic was identified during his long career at the bar. would hardly come within the province of a work devoted almost exclusively t family history, but the magnitude of some of them makes it impossible to pass them unnoticed. As early as 1858 he

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was retained to argue before a jury in a civil action known as Russell vs. Dyer, involving the title to the famous Fabyan House and adjacent property. An- other of his many important real estate cases was that of Wells vs. The Jackson Manufacturing Com- pany, commenced in 1860 to recover twelve thousand acres of land, including the summit of Mount Wash- ington. He also figured in the famous Dr. Samuel Bemis contested will case; was for a number of years counsel for the Grand Trunk Railway Com- pany in New Hampshire and Vermont, and for the Boston, Concord & Montreal railroad.

Politically Judge Bingham was a Democrat, and was ling recognized as one of its most sagacious leaders in New Hampshire. He was a member of the state senate for the years 1864 and 65; repre- sented Littleton in the lower branch of the legisla- ture in 1875 and 76; was a delegate to the National Democratic conventions at Baltimore and Charleston in 1800; and in ISSo was his party's candidate for representative to congress. From 1874 to 1886 he served upon the board of education for the Union School District in Littleton; was for eight years ( 1870 10 1879) a trustee of the State Normal School ; and his services in behalf of public education have been exceedingly beneficial. He also served the community both ably and faithfully in various other ways, including the general business and financial interests of the town, having for many years been president of the Littleton Savings Bank, and a di- rector of the Littleton National Bank. He died at his home in Littleton, January 22, 1895, in his sixty- ninth year. Judge Bingham was married (first) November 2, 1852, to Louise Smith, who was born in Newbury, Vermont, and died in Lyndon, same State. September 6, 1856. He married (second). January 6, 1859, Eliza Isabella, daughter of Chief Justice An- drew Salter Woods. She was born November I, 1838, in Bath, New Hampshire. and died May 6, 1893. in Littleton. The only child of the first wife is Tracy Perry, who now resides in Lisbon. New Hampshire. Andrew Woods, eldest of the second wife's children, now resides in Littleton. George Hutchins is the subject of the following paragraph. Helen Eliza, the third, resides in Littleton, unmar- ried. Katherine, the youngest. is the wife of Fred- eric T. Walsh, of Lowell, Massachusetts.

(X) George Hutchins, third son of George A. Bingham and second child of his wife, Eliza I. (Woods) Bingham, was born August 19, 1864, in Littleton, New Hampshire, where he grew to man- hood and attended the public schools. He was at Holderness School in the fall of 188o, and in De- cember. ISSI, entered St. Johnsbury Academy, where he completed his preparation for college. He entered Dartmouth in the fall of 1883 and was graduated from that institution in 1887, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Following this. he remained at home for a time, engaged in the study of law with his father. In the fall of 1888 he entered the Har- vard Law School. Here he remained three years, completing his course of study in the spring of 1891, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In July of that year he was admitted to the bar at Concord, in this State. He immediately entered upon the prac- tice of his profession at Littleton in partnership with his father, under the firm name of Bingham & Bing- ham. This arrangement continued until the death of the senior member in 1895. Their business was -niccessful and their relations most congenial and. friendly. In the spring of 1898 he went to Man-

chester, and formed a partnership with the Hon. David A. Taggart, which continued until July I, 1901, when he opened an office by himself. In July, 1892. he was appointed an associate justice of the supreme court. He has inherited the judicial qual- ities of mind which distinguished his father and his grandfather, Chief Justice Andrew S. Woods, and bears his share of the labors of the court in a man- ner creditable to himself and acceptable to his con- temporaries. Judge Bingham is one of the most democratic of men, with genial and affable manners which endear him to those with whom he comes in contact. He is director of the Merchants National Bank and a member of Grace Episcopal Church, of Manchester, of which he is a vestryman. He has never taken any active part in political movements but adheres to the traditions of his family, affiliating with the Democratic party. He was married Octo- ber 21, 1891, to Cordelia Pearmain Hinckley, who was born January 20. 1866, in Chelsea, Massachu- setts. Elizabeth, the eldest child of Judge and Mrs. Bingham, was born July 22, 1892, in Chelsea, Mass- achusetts. George Hutchins, the second, was born January 6, 1895, in Littleton. Cordelia Pearmain, July 26. 1896, in Littleton. Sylvester Hinckley, May 22, 1901, in Manchester. Robert Pearmain and Helen Woods (twins), April 21, 1903, in Man- chester.

(I\'). Joseph, tenth child and sixth son of Dea- con Thomas and Mary (Rudd) Bingham, was born in Windham, Connecticut, January 15, 1688, and re- sided in the same town, where he died September 4, 1765. The only record of him except as to his domestic relations is that of a transfer of land by him to his brother Samuel, of Windham, in 1717. He married first, December 14, 1710, Abigail Scott. who died March 30, 1741; second, November 30, 1742, Rachel Wolcott Huntington, of Norwich, widow of Daniel Huntington, of that town. She survived Joseph Bingham, and married second, Thomas Welch. The children, all by the first wife, were: Lydia, Gideon, Abigail, Elijah, and Joseph. Joseph, the youngest, married Sarah Wheelock, sister of Eleazer Wheelock, first president of Dart- mouth College, and Joseph's daughter Jerusha be- came the wife of Samuel Kirkland, the Indian mis- sionary, and the mother of John Thornton Kirkland, for years president of Harvard College.

(V) Deacon Elijah, fourth child and second son of Joseph and Abigail (Scott) Bingham, was born in Windham, June 1, 1719, and died in Lemp- ster, New Hampshire, March 19, 1798. He was a carpenter and joiner, and was one of the deacons of the First Church in Windham, Connecticut. In 1770 he removed with his wife and six or seven children to Lempster, where he resided until his death. He married first, March 2. 1739, Theody or Theda Crane, She was the daughter of Jonathan Crane, Jr., of Lebanon. Connecticut, and died April 6, 1751. He married second, July 19, 1752, Sarah Jackson. His children by the first wife were: Elijah, Silas, and Abigail. By the second wife: Roswell, Tabitha, Eunice, James, Nathan (died young), Nathan. Cal- vin, Harris, Vine, Lucy, Daniel, Truman, and Lydia.

(VI) Harris, eighth child and sixth son of Deacon Elijah and Sarah (Jackson) Bingham, was born in Lempster, New Hampshire, November 17, 1763, and died there April 13, 1822. He married Phebe Rogers, in 1787. She died August 25, 1824, at the age of sixty. The children were twelve in number; of whom the fourth, Minerva, became the

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wife of Allen Warden, of Windsor, Vermont, and their daughter. Helen Minerva, became the wife of William M. Evarts.

(VII) Courtney, eldest son and second child of Harri- and Phebe ( Rogers) Bingham, was born in Lempster, January 24. 1790, and died in Claremont, January 17, 1863. He married first, Rachel Howard, who died in 1830, and second, Lovey Ann Lebour- veau, who survived him and died in Keene, New Hampshire, her native town, April 16, 1871. The children of the earlier marriage were three: Samuel Dexter. born in Swanzey, New Hampshire, January 19. 1817, died in New York City; Mary, born Au- gust 4. 1819: and Solon P., born August 28, 1820, died in Lincoln. Nebraska, 1905. The children of the second marriage were two-Charles H., died in Claremont, New Hampshire. October 2, 1840, at the age of four years; and George W., born in Clare- mont. October 23, 1838, and now resides (1907) in Derry. New Hampshire.

(VIII) George Washington, youngest son and second child of Courtney and Lovey Ann (Lebour- veau ) Bingham, was born in Claremont, October 23. 1838. He grew up on his father's farm a strong and active boy, attending the public schools until he be- gan to fit for college, and from that time forward made his expenses by working at farming in sum- mer and teaching school in winter. He prepared for college at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, New Hampshire, entered Dartmouth in the fall of 1859,

and graduated in 1863. He was a diligent student throughout his college course, and was admitted to the Phi Beta Kappa society at graduation. While in college Mr. Bingham was a prominent member of the religious societies of the institution, and took an active part in them. In the fall of 1863 he became principal of Gilmanton Academy, and held that posi- tion two years, doing thorough and acceptable work. Among the pupils in his graduating class in 1865 was Mary Upham Cogswell, who was born in North- wood, New Hampshire, September 6, 1845, daughter of Rev. Elliott Colby and Sophia Ann (Adams) Cogswell, of Northwood. Mr. Bingham watched her career as a student and came to admire not only her scholarship but also her excellent qualities as an energetic, active Christian woman. November 19, 1865, they were united in marriage, and Mr. Bing- ham became superintendent of the public schools of Sewickley, Pennsylvania. where his excellent record as an instructor led, at the end of two years, to his appointment to the position of principal of an insti- tution in Pittsburgh.

From 1867 to 1871 Mr. and Mrs. Bingham were co-workers in the management of the Pittsburgh Seminary for young ladies, which they built up from a small school to a large and flourishing institution which had not room to accommodate all who applied for admission. The climate proved unfavorable, and in 1871 they reluctantly gave up their labors there.

They settled at Burlington, Iowa, where Mr. Bingham became a partner in the firm of Nealley, Bock & Bingham, nurserymen. There he remained until 1878, when Mr. and Mrs. Bingham, having fully recovered their health. took charge of Den- mark Academy, at Denmark, Iowa, which they soon made one of the most popular and successful schools in the state. For six years they taught with gratify- ing success in this institution. In 1884, much to the regret of the trustees and patrons of the school, they were compelled for family reasons to sever their connection with the school and return to New

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Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. III, Part 68

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 876

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 876