George G. Bingham

George Greenwood Bingham (November 25, 1855 – October 4, 1924) was an American judge and legal educator in the state of Oregon. A native of Wisconsin, he migrated to Oregon with his family in his teens, though he returned to the Midwest for his legal education. Bingham served as the second dean at the Willamette University College of Law and was also a judge for Multnomah County after previously serving as a district attorney for Salem and the state. His former home in Salem, the Dr. Luke A. Port House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Early life George Bingham was born in West Salem, Wisconsin, on November 25, 1855, to William Henry Bingham and Maria Bingham (née Kentner) as the first of four children. The family moved to neighboring Barre by 1860 and to Carrollton, Missouri, by 1870. After receiving his education in the public schools of Yamhill County, he attended what became Linfield College in McMinnville. Bingham then continued to teach at the school for thirty years. In 1890, he formed a new partnership with P. H. D’Arcy, lasting until 1894. However, President Theodore Roosevelt had made it clear to the delegation that he would not appoint anyone with any connections to the defendants in the Oregon land fraud scandal or ties to corporations. Bingham had been the attorney for the Southern Pacific railroad in Salem, and thus was dropped for consideration the next month, with Thomas J. Cleeton appointed to the position. While on the court in 1921, he ruled with judge Percy R. Kelly that Oregon’s compulsory sterilization law was unconstitutional. In 1922, he gained national attention while presiding over the Richard Brumfield murder trial in Roseburg. He was known as an expert on corporation law and immigration law. The Queen Anne style home is part of the Deepwood Estate next to Bush's Pasture Park. Bingham added gardens and an orchard to the estate.

Bingham was a member of both the Masonic Order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He also served as president of the Bank of Woodburn. On September 25, 1924, he suffered a stroke while in court in Portland and was hospitalized at the Portland Medical Hospital. George Greenwood Bingham died on October 4, 1924, at the age of 68 at the hospital of a heart attack. The family sold the Port home after both George and Willie died in 1924.