William Bingham

Infobox Senator
name =William Bingham


imagesize =205px
jr/sr =United States Senator
state =Pennsylvania
term_start =March 4, 1795
term_end =March 3, 1801
preceded =Robert Morris
succeeded =Peter Muhlenberg
order2 =7th President pro tempore of the United States Senate
term_start2 =February 16, 1797
term_end2 =March 3, 1797
president2 =George Washington
preceded2 =Samuel Livermore
succeeded2 =William Bradford
birth_date =March 8, 1752
birth_place =Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
death_date =February 7, 1804
death_place =Bath, England
restingplace =Bath Abbey, Bath, England
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nationality =
party =Federalist
otherparty =
spouse =Ann Willing
relations =
children =Maria Matilda
Anne Louisa
residence =
alma_mater =Philadelphia College
occupation =
profession =
net worth =
cabinet =
committees =
portfolio =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

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. He helped to found the Bank of North America, the first bank of the new nation, in 1781.cite book |last= Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums |editor=Doris A. Isaacson |title=Maine: A Guide 'Down East' |year=1970 |publisher=Courier-Gazette, Inc. |location=Rockland, Me | pages = 381-382 ]

William was born on March 8, 1752 in Philadelphia. He graduated from the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) in 1768. He married Anne Willing, daughter of Thomas Willing, and they had two daughters. In 1798 his daughter Anne Louisa married English financier Alexander Baring, later 1st Baron Ashburton. His elder daughter, Maria Matilda married firstly a french aristocrat, Alexandre, comte de Tilly, and then with Henry Baring. His son, also named William, married one of the three beautiful heiresses of Michel-Eustache-Gaspard-Alain Chartier de Lotbiniere.

By the beginning of the American Revolution, Bingham was regarded as one of the richest men in Pennsylvania, having made his fortune through joint ownership of privateers and trading. He was sent on diplomatic missions by the American Congress to Martinique and St. Pierre. Returning to America, he represented Pennsylvania as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788. In 1790 and 1791 he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving as its speaker in 1791. About this time he became a major land developer, purchasing lands in upstate New York and 2 million acres (8,000 km²) in Maine,later known as the Bingham Purchase.http://newenglandtowns.org/maine/franklin-county "Franklin County, Maine", "New England Towns". Retrieved: 11-22-2007]

William Bingham was known as the richest man in America. Bingham was only twenty-eight years old when he achieved richest-man status. He made his fortune in three different ventures. First, running a privateer operation in the Caribbean during the American revolution for Robert Morris. After the revolution, he bought up any worthless Continental currency he could accumulate, and then persuaded Alexander Hamilton to redeem the currency at par. Next he invested enough gold bars to finance the Louisiana Purchase for Thomas Jefferson, as Napoleon had insisted on gold for payment. He also invested in the area in upstate New York now called Binghamton, and convert|2000000|acre|km2 in the future State of Maine. Westward migration turned toward Ohio rather than north once the British prohibition on colonizing past the Allegheny mountains was lifted. Bingham died in 1804, but his estate was not settled until 1960.

said that the Presidency, the Capital and the Country had been governed by Bingham and his family connections.

He was also a land surveyor, and looked to develop areas currently a part of Southern New York, and Northern Pennsylvania. One of his prime prospects was at the confluence of the Chenango River and Susquehanna River. Today that area is a city named in his honor, Binghamton, New York. Further more, Binghamton's resident university, Binghamton University recognized Bingham through the naming of Bingham Hall.

Bingham died on February 7, 1804 in Bath, England and is interred in Bath Abbey.

Further reading

*Robert C. Alberts, "The Golden Voyage: The Life and Times of William Bingham", 1969, Houghton Mifflin.

External links

*CongBio|B000474
* [http://virtualology.com/apwilliambingham/ Biography at Virtualology.com]
* [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/1700s/people/bingham_wm.html Biography and portrait at the University of Pennsylvania]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/bingham.html The Political Graveyard]

References