Biography

03/08/1754 - 02/07/1804


BINGHAM, William, a Representative from Philadelphia City; born March 8, 1754 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pa.; A.B., College of Philadelphia (now University of Pennsylvania), 1768; A.M., College of Philadelphia, 1771; apprentice to merchant Thomas Warton; British Consul, Martinique (1770-1776); secretary, secret correspondence committee, Second Continental Congress (1775-1780); land developer; founder and director, Pennsylvania Bank (1780); trustee, Dickinson College (1783-1803); member, Continental Congress (1786-1788); trustee, College of Philadelphia (1789-1804); elected as a Federalist to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 1790-1791 and 1791-1792 terms; elected, Speaker of the House (1790-1792); president, Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Company (1791); unsuccessful campaign, United States Congress (1792); elected, Pennsylvania State Senate (1793-1795); elected, Speaker of the Senate (1794-1795); elected, United States Senate (1795-1801); appointed, Senate Pro Tempore (1800-1801); died, February 7, 1804 in Bath, Somerset, England; interred, Bath Abbey, Bath, Somerset, England.

 

Archival Collections

Bingham, W. mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

William Bingham Correspondence (Collection 53), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Land grant to William Bingham, Esq., for property in Lycoming County from Thomas Mifflin, Governor of Pennsylvania. MS-M047. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. 

 

Bibliography

Alberts, Robert C. The Golden Voyage: The Life and Times of William Bingham, 1752-1804. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1969.

Brown, Margaret L “William Bingham, Agent of the Continental Congress in Martinique.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography January 1937: 54-87.

Brown, Margaret L. “Mr. and Mrs. William Bingham of Philadelphia.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography July 1937: 286-324.

Brown, Margaret L. “William Bingham, Eighteenth Century Magnate.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography October 1937: 387-434.

Munger, Donna Bingham. “Ancestors and Descendants of William Bingham of Philadelphia [1640-1915].” Donnabinghammunger.com

 

PA Senate Biography

Pennsylvania Senate Historical Biography – William Bingham

Congressional Biography

After 2 session(s) serving in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, William Bingham went on to serve in congress - opens in a new tab


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