Kinsley Scott Bingham
U. S. House of Representatives, Michigan, 1847-1851
Governor, Michigan, 1854-1859
U. S. Senator, Michigan, 1859-1861
Born: December 16, 1808, Camillus, Onondaga County, New York.
Died: October 5, 1861, Green Oak, Livingston County, Michigan.
- Attended the common schools and pursued an academic course.
- Studied law in Syracuse, New York.
- Moved to Green Oak, Michigan, 1833.
- Admitted to the bar, and practiced law.
- Engaged in agricultural pursuits.
- Held a number of local offices, including those of Justice of the Peace, Postmaster, and first Judge of Probate of Livingston County, Michigan.
- Member of the first House of Representatives of Michigan, 1837, the year of the State's admission to the Union
- Re-elected to the Michigan House of Representatives four times.
- Speaker of the Michigan State House of Representatives three terms.
- Elected from Michigan as a Democrat to the Thirtieth and Thirty-first U. S. Congresses, March 4, 1847 - March 3, 1851.
- Was not a candidate for renomination, 1850.
- Resumed agricultural pursuits.
- Elected Governor, Michigan, 1854, heading the first ticket ever designated as "Republican," and was re-elected in 1856.
- Instrumental in the establishment of the Michigan Agricultural College and other educational institutions.
- Elected from Michigan as a Republican to the U. S. Senate, serving from March 4, 1859, until his death.
Buried: Old Village Cemetery, Brighton, Livingston County, Michigan.
(Source: U.S. Congress. House. Biographical Directory Of The American Congress 1774-1949, 85th Cong., 2nd sess., H. Doc. 607 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950), pp. 759-2057.)