Edward Franklin Bingham

Edward Franklin Bingham (August 13, 1828 – September 5, 1907) was an American politician, lawyer and judge. He served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.

Early life Edward Franklin Bingham was born on August 13, 1828, in West Concord (now Concord), Vermont, to Lucy (née Wheeler) and Warner Bingham. His father was a judge. Bingham attended public schools in Vermont and an academy in Peacham, Vermont. He attended Marietta College, but didn't graduate, and read law with his brother Harry Bingham in Littleton, New Hampshire, in 1850. He studied law under Joseph Miller of Chillicothe, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in Ohio in May 1850.

Law career Bingham was in private practice in McArthur, Ohio, from June 1, 1850, to 1861, and in Columbus, Ohio, from 1861 to 1867, also working as prosecuting attorney of Vinton County, Ohio, from November 1850 to 1855 and serving in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1856 to 1857. He was city solicitor for Columbus, thereafter returning to private practice in Columbus until 1873. In 1858, he was the Democratic nominee for the Court of Common Pleas, but lost to W. W. Johnson. In 1868, he was chairman of Ohio's Democratic executive committee. From 1867 to 1871, he was election solicitor of Columbus. He received a recess appointment from President Grover Cleveland on April 22, 1887, to the chief justice seat on the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia (now the United States District Court for the District of Columbia) vacated by Chief Justice David Kellogg Cartter. He was nominated to the same position by President Cleveland on December 20, 1887. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 23, 1888, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on April 30, 1903, due to his retirement due to age limit. He married Lin Caperton Patton, daughter of Allen T. Caperton on August 8, 1888. As of 1903, he lived on H Street NW in Washington, D.C. After retiring, he lived at the Grafton Hotel on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C. He had a country home in Union, West Virginia.

Bingham died on September 5, 1907, at his summer home in Union, West Virginia. He was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus.