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DWARD FRANKLIN BINGHAM, lawyer, jurist, ex-chief justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, was born at West Concord, Vermont, August 13, 1828. His father was Judge Warner Bingham, a direct descendant of Thomas Bingham, an Englishman, who emigrated to this country and settled at Norwich, Connecticut, in 1663. He had four brothers, two of whom also gained distinction in the law — Honorable Harry Bingham, a lawyer of the New Hampshire bar, and Judge George A. Bingham, of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire. His education was obtained in the public and select schools of Vermont, and for a short time at Marietta college. Marietta, Ohio, in which state he had made his home in 1846. He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio, in May, 1850.

He began practice at McArthur, the county seat of Vinton county, Ohio. He had neither acquaintanceship or prestige; but he was not long in finding friends and supporters. Within a year a vacancy occurred in the prosecuting attorney's office, and he was appointed by the court; and his fortunes were further favored by his election to the office of district attorney in 1851. He was reelected, and he served in this capacity for five years. In 1855 he was elected to the state legislature, in which he served two terms, declining reelection in order to devote himself more completely to the law.

He was a delegate from the eleventh congressional district, Ohio, to the Democratic national convention, held first at Charleston, South Carolina, and by adjournment at Baltimore. In 1861 he removed to Columbus, Ohio, and continued to reside there until his appointment to the judiciary of the District of Columbia, in 1887.

At Columbus he took an active interest in municipal and state affairs. In 1868 he became chairman of the Ohio State Democratic Executive Committee. For four years he filled the office of city solicitor; he was a member of the board of education for two terms; and later, in 1873, was elected to the position of judge of the Court