Kinsley S. Bingham | |
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United States Senator from Michigan |
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In office March 4, 1859 – October 5, 1861 |
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Preceded by | Charles E. Stuart |
Succeeded by | Jacob M. Howard |
11th Governor of Michigan | |
In office January 3, 1855 – January 5, 1859 |
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Lieutenant | George Coe |
Preceded by | Andrew Parsons |
Succeeded by | Moses Wisner |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 3rd district |
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In office March 4, 1847 – March 4, 1851 |
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Preceded by | James B. Hunt |
Succeeded by | James L. Conger |
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives | |
In office 1836–1842 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Camillus, New York |
December 16, 1808
Died | October 5, 1861 Green Oak Township, Michigan |
(aged 52)
Political party | Democratic, Free Soil, Republican |
Spouse(s) |
1.Margaret Warden 2.Mary Warden |
1.Margaret Warden
Kinsley Scott Bingham (December 16, 1808 – October 5, 1861) was a U.S. Representative, a U.S. Senator, and the 11th Governor of the State of Michigan.
Bingham (whose first name is sometimes spelled Kingsley) was born to the farmer family of Calvin and Betsy (Scott) Bingham in Camillus, New York in Onondaga County. He attended the common schools and studied law in Syracuse. In 1833, while still in New York, Bingham married Margaret Warden, who had recently moved with her brother Robert Warden and family from Scotland.
Bingham moved with his wife, in 1833 to Green Oak Township, Michigan where he was admitted to the bar and began a private practice. In 1834, his only child with Margaret, Kinsley W. Bingham (1838–1908), was born and his wife died four days later. He engaged in agricultural pursuits and held a number of local offices including justice of the peace, postmaster, and first judge of the probate court of Livingston County.
Bingham became a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives in 1837, was reelected four times and served as speaker of the house in 1838–1839, and 1842. In 1839, Bingham married Mary Warden, the younger sister of his first wife, and in 1840 their only child was born, James W. Bingham (1840–1862).
In 1846, he was elected as a Democratic Representative from Michigan's 3rd congressional district to the 30th and 31st Congresses, serving from March 4, 1847, to March 4, 1851. He was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State in the 31st Congress. He was instrumental in securing approval for building the Beaver Island Head Lighthouse on the south end of Beaver Island in Lake Michigan. He was strongly opposed to the expansion of slavery and was one of minority of Democrats who supported the Wilmot Proviso. Bingham was not a candidate for re-election in 1850 and resumed agricultural pursuits. He affiliated himself with the Free Soil Party and was later a Republican.