Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/322

 IMNCJllAM.

BINNEY,

ex|>^iliti')ii to Harj>«^rs Ferry to suppress Jolin Hruwiis niul. In ISOO h« served on frontier duty at Fort Ridgelv, Minn., and went on the expedi- tion to Yellow Medicine. He was promoted to be a«8i.stant quarterniiister in 1861, and from August of tlmt year to February of the next he liad cliarge of the train and supplies of General Rinks's command in Maryland. In March, 1862, he was placed in charge of the quartermaster's dojx.t at Nashville, Tenn. From January, 1863, to April. I>i63, lie was chief qmvrtermaster of the iTth Army corps, and for the following four months of the army of the Tennessee, being present at Lake Proviilence and Milliken's Bend, La., and at the siege of Vicksburg. He also serveil in the expe<lition to Meridian, and in Sherman's marcli through Georgia. In March, 1865, he received the brevet ranks of major, lieutenant colonel and colonel, and in April that of brigadier-general. From 1864 to 1866 he was inspector of the quartermaster's department, and in 1867 was made chief quartermaster of the de- partment of the lakes. In 1875 he was made deputy quartermaster-general, and in 1883 colonel and assistant quartermaster-general. He was retired May 10, 1895.

BINGHAM, Kinsley S., senator, was born at Camillus, N. Y., Dec. 16, 1808. He received an academic education, and for a few years was en- gaged in teacliing school. He was employed in a lawyer's office in New York state when a young man, but in 1833 removed to Michigan and de- voted himself to agricultural pursuits and to local politics. For eight years he held a seat in the state house of representatives, and in 1846 was elected as a representative to the 30th and was re-elected to the 31st and 32d congresses. In 1854 he was chosen governor of Michigan. In 1S59 he was elected to the United States senate, and died at Oak (Jrove, Mich., Oct. 5, 1861.

BINGHAM, William, senator, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1752. In 1768 he was gradu- ated from Philadelphia college. He went to Mar- tiniijue as agent of the Continental congress, and was subsequently appointed as consul at St. Pierre. In 1787 he was a delegate to the Continental con- gress, and in 1795 was elected to a seat in the United States senate, serving throughout the 4th, 5th and 6th congresses. He wrote a "Letter from an American, now Resident in London, to a 3Iember of Parliament, on the subject of the Restraining Proclamation" (1784); and " A De- scription of Certain Tracts of Land in Maine" (1793). He died in England, Feb. 7, 1804.

BINNEY, Amo5, naturalist, was born in Bos- ton, Mass., Oct. 18, 1803. He was graduated from Brown university with the degree of A.M. in 1821, and obtained an M.D. from Harvard col- lege in 1826. He practised in Boston for a short

time, but later became a merchant. He was an interested student of the sciences, particularly that of natural history, devoting much time to investigation of the habits of American land moUusks, and was active in the organization of the Boston Society of natural history, of which he was elected president in 1843. He was also a member of the American Association of geolo- gists and naturalists. He served for some time in the Mas.sachusetts legislature. He wrote very extensively on the subjects in which he was inter- ested, being a frequent contributor to many of the leading American scientific journals. He is the author of "Terrestrial and Air-Breathing Mollusks of the United States (1847-51.) He died in Rome. Italy, Feb. 18, 1847.

BINNEY, Horace, lawyer, was born in Phila- delphia, Pa., Jan. 4. 1780, son of Dr. Barnabas and Mary (AVoodrow) Binney. He was of Scotch and English descent. His first American an- cestor, John Binney, emigrated from Hull, Bos- ton Bay, England, to America, settling in HuU, Mass. The grandfather of Horace was Barnabas Binney, a shipmaster and merchant of Boston, and his father was one of the first thirty gradu- ates of Brown university, and later was a sur- geon in the revolutionary army, attached to the Massachusetts line, whence he was transferred to the Pennsylvania line, and settled in Phila- delphia. In 1786 Horace was sent to the Friends' almshouse school in Philadelphia, and shortly afterwards entered the grammar school of the University of Pennsylvania. He was graduated at Harvard in 1797, at the head of his class. His first intention was to follow the profession of his father and step-father, but he finally decided to become a lawyer, and in the fall of 1797 was re- ceived as a student into the office of Mr. Jared IngersoU, in Philadelphia. On March 31, 1800. he was admitted to the bar of the court of common pleas, and in 1802 was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the state. He was elected a member of the state legislature in 1806. His private practice soon became very large, and he was obliged to decline all political honors. Be- tween the years 1807 and 1817 he prepared six volumes of reports, condensing the decisions of the supreme court of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1814. This valuable work greatly enhanced and widened his reputation. In 1808 he was chosen a director of the first United States bank, and continued to act as a director and as a trustee- for many years, arguing in its interest his fir.st case in the supreme court of the United States. Before he was fifty years old he was twice offered a seat on the bench of the supreme court of the state, and was tendered a judgeship in the U. S. supreme court. These honors he declined, pre- ferring active law practice. About the year 1832^