Kinsley S. Bingham

Kinsley Scott Bingham (December 16, 1808October 5, 1861) was a U.S. Representative, a U.S. Senator, and the 11th governor of Michigan. Early life in New York 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. Life and politics in Michigan 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).