The Bingham Association

Welcome

Welcome to the new Bingham Association website! We are indebted to Donna Bingham Munger for all her work hosting the site for so many years and for being so supportive during the transition for the launch of this site (see a view of the classic version here).

Purpose

The purpose of the Bingham Association is to collect, preserve, and disseminate information about past and present members of the Bingham family and in general to increase fellowship among its members.

Traditionally, the efforts of the Association have been focused on the descendants of Thomas Bingham of Connecticut. Thomas, with his mother, Anne Fenton Bingham, migrated to the American colonies from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England between 1652 and 1659 when Thomas was ten to seventeen years old. Thomas and his father, Thomas, were probably from the Nottingham Bingham Family, but a documented connection is not proven, yet.

From Thomas’s arrival in Saybrook, Connecticut to the present, thirteen generations of descent have been traced and documented in two official Association publications and in several other publications as well.

Thomas had eleven children and as with every other family their descendants include the famous and the not so famous. Some became farmers, ranchers, orchardists, and viticulturists; others became teachers, preachers, missionaries, and soldiers; some followed educational, religious, and military pursuits; some were craftsmen, traders, and salesmen; others became industrialists, lawyers, doctors, and scientists; a few even became protesters, prisoners, and congressmen.

In tracing the descendants of Thomas Bingham of Connecticut, early researchers identified other Bingham lines. They called these “Partial Bingham Genealogies, Beginnings Unknown”. It is possible that some of these were from the English Melcombe Bingham Family. Others were of Irish descent. Many of these lines are still in fragment form and connections are needed. Much more research needs to be done. This website will include these lines as material becomes available.

Image Source: Family Tree with Bingham motto; Genealogy of the Bingham Family in the United States; Especially of the Connecticut Family; Compiled by Theodore A. Bingham; 1898 (Available digitally on Internet Archive)

MEMBERSHIP

We are a volunteer organization based in the State of Connecticut primarily interested in documenting the ancestors and descendants of Thomas Bingham of Connecticut.

People with an interest in other Bingham lines are also welcome.

Eligibility: Any person related by blood or marriage to any person whose family name is BINGHAM is eligible for membership.

New members: Simply complete a minimum four generation documented genealogy of immediate ancestors and as many generations of descendants as exist and submit to the Association. After evaluation of authenticity and documentation, the Association will contact the submitter.

Current members: Past contributors to the Bingham Book and Updates, and Bingham Book purchasers are considered members. The Bingham Book, aka: the Red Book, can be found here.

Dues: No monetary payment is required.

Meetings: Officially, the annual meeting of the Association is held on the fourth Saturday in June of each year (meetings can be held in person or by phone).

Officers: The officers of the Association are Co-Presidents (Tiffany Bingham Cunningham and Gerry Bingham) and Vice-President, Historian, and Archivist (Donna Bingham Munger). No officer receives compensation.

Board of Directors: Members are Association officers and no more than nine other members. The Board meets irregularly to advise the Presidents.

Advisory Council: Members are skilled in the discipline of genealogy, history, or publishing, number not more than thirty, and are appointed by the Board.

Research Queries: BinghamAssociation@gmail.com

Organization/Membership Queries: BinghamAssociationOutreach@gmail.com

HISTORY

The Bingham Association began life with a grand dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on February 12, 1925.

Its first officers were: U.S. Senator Hiram Bingham of Connecticut, President (depicted above); General Theodore A. Bingham of New York (depicted above), Vice President; Judge Robert W. Bingham of Louisville, Kentucky, Vice-President; F.F. Bingham of Pensacola, Florida, Vice-President; Walter Bingham of Ogden, Utah, Vice-President ; Professor Eugene C. Bingham of Easton, Pennsylvania, Secretary (depicted above); Frederick L. Bingham of New York City, Treasurer (depicted above); and Dr. Anne Bingham of New York City, Recorder.

The Association set as its principal goal the printing and publishing of the three volume set, The Bingham Family in the United States. This was accomplished in 1927 with volume one and in 1930 with volumes two and three. Theodore A. Bingham, or TAB as later researchers have referred to him, functioned as compiler and Eugene C. Bingham oversaw publication.

For years thereafter, Association activity dwindled. Arthur W. Bingham Jr. was the faithful Treasurer and last surviving officer at his death in 1967. For a decade, the Association maintained a custodial role by preserving information offered by interested family members, but remaining always on the lookout for a qualified genealogist who would make it possible to produce a new edition worthy of the effort that had gone before.

The Red Book

In 1977, Donna Bingham Munger, a historian by profession, came forward to meet the considerable challenge presented by such a project. In working out her own line of descent from Deacon Thomas, our first American ancestor, she became interested in pulling together, verifying, perfecting, and adding to the information which had become available from various additional sources. The Association came to life again.

New Officers, Directors, and a Board of Advisors began work. With their help and the assistance of over one hundred other Bingham researchers, the Association published an updated version of the family genealogy in 1996 titled The Bingham Family in the United States, The Descendants of Thomas Bingham of Connecticut, also known as "the Red Book." This one volume superseded the previous three volumes by correcting errors, providing sources, and adding new material. Expanded or new bio-sketches provided a greater historical depth. And a different organization and numbering system made for easier use. In 2021, the Donna Bingham Munger website was created, making the entire contents of the book available at the Bingham Association's Gateway to the Red Book.

Starting in 1996, the Bingham Association began issuing Updates to the book, amounting to seven sets between 1997 and 2020.

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