James Bingham

James Bingham (March 16, 1861 – August 19, 1940) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the nineteenth Indiana Attorney General from January 1, 1907, to January 1, 1911.

Biography Early life and education Bingham was born in Fountain County, Indiana. His father was Alexander Bingham, a farmer.

Growing up, Bingham worked on the family farm and on the railroad. After his time at the local district schools, Bingham attended Valparaiso Normal School for six months before becoming a schoolteacher at age fifteen. At age twenty-one, after six years of teaching, Bingham was elected superintendent of Fountain County schools. As superintendent, he held one of Indiana's first grade school graduations and organized a course of study for the county's common schools (he would later serve on a committee that prepared a statewide course of study for all Indiana grade schools).

In 1888, Bingham served as chairman of the Fountain County Republican Party and campaigned in the county for Republican presidential candidate Benjamin Harrison.

After leaving office, Bingham remained in Indianapolis and opened a private law practice with his son, Remster A. Bingham. Bingham was involved as an attorney in two test cases originating from Ohio that led the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm the constitutionality of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments, enacting nationwide Prohibition and granting women the right to vote respectively.

Personal life and death In 1887, Bingham married Elizabeth Remster, a high school principal from Veedersburg. Elizabeth was the sister of an Indianapolis judge. She died in 1925. One of their sons, Remster A. Bingham, was a national judge advocate of the American Legion and a member of the state board of law examiners. Another son, Charles Bingham, served in the First World War and died young of an illness caused by his service.

Bingham was a member of the American Bar Association, the Indiana State Bar Association, and the Indianapolis Bar Association. He was also a member of the Indiana Historical Society and the Columbia Club. He attended the Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis.

Bingham died in 1940. He was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.