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William Bingham

Federalist Senator of Pennsylvania

  • Senator

    Pennsylvania

    December 7, 1795 - March 3, 1801

3

Congresses Served

1

Senate Terms

January 1, 1752 (52 years old)

Birthday

January 1, 1804

Death

  • Was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788
  • Served in the United States Senate from 1795 to 1801
  • Considered one of the wealthiest men in the United States during his lifetime, and the richest person in the U.S. in 1780
  • Graduated from the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) in 1768
  • Traveled to Europe in 1773 and joined the Philadelphia Society upon returning
  • Sent to Martinico (today’s Martinique) in 1776 to establish communications with Silas Deane in France, captured several British ships, and returned with vital goods for the American Revolution
  • Made his fortune through joint ownership of privateers and trading
  • Became a major land developer, purchasing lands in upstate New York and 2 million acres in Maine (Bingham Purchase)
  • Helped broker the Louisiana Purchase
  • Founder and first president of the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike
  • Directed several enterprises and maintained shipping ventures after the Revolutionary War
  • Led the Second Troop of Philadelphia Light Horse during the 1780s
  • Wrote by-laws for the national Bank of North America and was a mentor to Alexander Hamilton on managing taxes, tariffs, and constructing a national bank
  • Served as the first speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1791 and later in the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1793 through 1794
  • Actively supported John Adams and served as the Senate’s President pro tempore in the Fourth Congress
  • Criticized by Jeffersonian politicians for “extravagance, ostentation, and dissipation”
  • His estates hosted many prominent aristocrats and Federalist meetings
  • The town of Binghamton and Binghamton University’s Bingham Hall are named in his honor
  • Married Anne Willing, with whom he had two daughters and a son
  • Died on February 7, 1804, in Bath, England, and is interred in Bath Abbey
  • Commissioned Gilbert Stuart for portraits of himself, his wife, and President George Washington