The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Bingham, William, 1752-1804.         

Title:               Papers,

Dates:             1741-1884, bulk dates 1791-1794

Call No.:         Col. 649

Acc. No.:        77x635; 02x2

Quantity:        2 boxes, 2 rolled maps

Location:        34 I 1

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

William Bingham was a businessman and public official who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 8, 1752, the son of Mary Stamper and William Bingham, a saddler and merchant.  The younger Bingham graduated from the College of Philadelphia in 1768, apprenticed to a merchant, and began to buy his own ships.  During the American Revolution, he served as an American agent in the West Indies, where he was able to acquire a large fortune.  After the war, Bingham became a director of the Bank of North America, oversaw the construction of the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, founded Binghamton, New York, and dabbled in land speculation.  By 1800, he was reputed to be the wealthiest man in the United States.  He served in the Continental Congress, the Pennsylvania legislature, and the United States senate.

 

In 1780, William married Anne Willing, the daughter of Anne McCall and Thomas Willing, one of Bingham’s business partners.  The Binghams built a large house for themselves, and it became a favorite meeting place for members of the government while the U.S. capital was located in Philadelphia.  William’s and Anne’s two daughters married Englishmen.  (Maria Matilda Bingham married Henry Baring.  Anne Louisa Bingham married Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton.)  Following the death of Anne in1801, William moved to England to live with his daughter who had married Alexander Baring.  He died in Bath, England, on February 7, 1804, and was buried in Bath Abbey.  Robert C. Alberts wrote a book about Bingham entitled The Golden Voyage.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

The collection includes an account book dated 1791-1794, deeds (dating 1740s to 1790s), one business letter from 1801, marriage settlements, three hand-drawn maps, and four volumes of surveying field notes.  The account book includes records of Bingham’s partnership with the Reverend Dr. Robert Blackwell in the Bunch of Grapes Tavern, notes about his Dutch loan, records about ships in which Bingham had an interest, some house and family expenses, servants’ wages, and records of property surveys and purchases.  The business letter is addressed to his partners Messrs. Willing and Francis, and concerns Asian and European trade and the possibility of selling two ships.  The 19th century marriage settlements are for members of the Baring family of England, into which one of Bingham’s daughters had married.  One deed is for property in York, Pennsylvania; the other deeds are for land in the Philadelphia area.  Bingham’s name appears on some of the deeds; the others may be for property he acquired at a later time.  One piece of property passed to William Allen and then to Edward Shippen.  One map is of property purchased by Bingham from William Kerlin; the deed for the property is included in this collection.  The other maps depict property in Kingessing township; the maps were executed in 1825 and show property belonging to the Bingham estate.  The surveying field notes were made by several different men in 1792-1793, and concern land in Lycoming, Warren, Tioga, and Potter Counties in Pennsylvania.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

The items are organized by type of material.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

Accession 77x635: purchased from Walter R. Benjamin Autographs, Inc.

Accession 02x2: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Irvin G. Schorsch, Jr.

 

 

RELATED MATERIALS

 

A letter from William Bingham is in Col. 469, Wetherill, Jones and Roberts families Papers, Downs Collection, Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library.

 

Papers relating to the Bingham family are in Col. 385, Robert Blackwell Business Papers, Downs Collection.

 

A stock certificate for the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike signed by Bingham is in Col. 268, Downs Collection.

 

A letter about a portrait in William Bingham’s estate is in the Records of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Mic. 789, Downs Collection.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Baring family.

            Blackwell, Robert, 1748-1831.

 

Topics:

Taverns (Inns) - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.

Real property, Exchange of - Pennsylvania.

Land tenure - Pennsylvania.

Surveying - Pennsylvania.

Real property - Maps.

                        Marriage settlements - Great Britain.

                        Home economics - Accounting - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.

                        Wages - Domestics.

                        Domestics - Pennsylvania.

                        Shipping - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.

                        Deeds.

                        Land surveys.

                        Account books.

                        Surveyors.

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 34 I 1

 

 

Box 1:

 

Folder 1: account book

 

02x2.1             account book, covered with marbled paper; label on front (now taped to front cover): “Copies of acct Current with Willink & others”; laid inside front cover: a list headed “Deeds”

 

Account book includes records of Bingham’s partnership with the Reverend Dr. Robert Blackwell in the Bunch of Grapes Tavern; notes about his Dutch loan; records about ships in which Bingham had an interest; records pertaining to the Schuylkill & Susquehanna Canal; some house and family expenses; servants’ wages (listed by function, not name: cook, gardener, coachman); records of property surveys and purchases; etc.

 

 

Folder 2: business letter

 

77x635            letter, William Bingham, Philadelphia, August 3, 1801[?], to Messrs. Willing & Francis: recommends that ships America and Canton be sold when they arrive, unless there is no market for them; thinks there are too many adventurers engaged in the East India and China trades; [more about trade]

                        [letter has been laminated]

 

 

Folder 3: surveying notes

 

02x2.2             surveying notebook: “Field Notes kept by John Brodhead in 1792,” June 15, 1792-at least July 20, 1792; with note dated April 3, 1793:

 

                        On April 3, 1793, Brodhead certified that these notes were copied from surveys done by him.  He mentioned surveying in Cowanisque, perhaps meaning Cowanesque, Tioga County, Pennsylvania.  He noted the color of the soil, the roughness of some of the terrain, water features, and recorded which trees had been marked.

 

 

Folder 4: surveying notes

 

02x2.3             surveying notebook: “Field Notes kept by John Brodhead in 1792,” June 15, 1792-at least July 20, 1792; with note dated April 3, 1793:

 

                        Apparently another copy of the same field notes as in 02x2.2.  On April 3, 1793, Brodhead certified that these notes were copied from surveys done by him. 

 

                        Later, someone wrote various things on the front and back covers, including a statement about Daniel White doing a survey in 1794.

 

 

Folder 5: surveying notes

 

02x2.4             surveying notebook: “Field Notes of some of the Surveys in John Adlums District,” Sept. 18-Nov. 2, 1792:

 

                        John Adlum did these surveys just south of the state line, along Tioga River, in  Pennsylvania.  He noted the color of the soil, the terrain, water features, and recorded which trees had been marked.  His last sentence: “Where the Lands were rough & laurelly the [word seems to be missing] were rejected.”

 

 

Folder 6: surveying notes

 

02x2.5             surveying notebook: “82nd mile-stone”: notes kept by David Harris, William Ellis, and Samuel Wallis; no date was found, but circa 1792:

 

                        The Pennsylvania line is mentioned, presumably the northern border with New York.  The men noted the color of the soil, the terrain, water features, and recorded which trees had been marked.

 

 

Folder 7: deed [more deeds are in Box 2]

 

02x2.17a         “Deed: William Kerlin & Uxor to William Bingham, Esquire, 4 Jan. 1790, no. 27, part of no. 28”: William and Catherine Kerlin of Chester, Delaware County, Penn., sell to William Bingham a piece of meadow ground on Tinicum Island; the deed names the adjoining landowners, and has been witnessed

 

Folder 8: map to go with Kerlin deed

 

0xx2.17b         “Draft of Wm. Gingham’s meadow purchas’d of Wm. Kerlin,” with 1790 added in pencil

 

                        A plat map surveyed by John Sellers on Nov. 27, 1790, with the land laying between Bow Creek and Tinicum Road, adjacent to land owned by Jacob Morgan.  The creek is painted blue, and the road is yellow.

 

 

Folder 9: marriage settlements (English)

 

0x2x.20           “Dated 18th August 1830, Henry Bridgeman Simpson, Esqre. And Miss Frances Emily Baring, copy Marriage Settlement.”

 

                        Henry Bridgeman Simpson (part of first part) lived in Babworth Hall, Nottingham County, [England], and was the eldest son of the Honorable John Simpson of the same place.  Other parties mentioned were Henry Baring of Buckenham in Norfolk County (party of second part); his daughter Frances Emily Baring (party of third part); and the Right Honorable Charles Anderson Lord Yarborough, Evelyn Denison of Ossington in Nottingham, Equire, Sir John Stuart Hippisley of Stone Easton House in Bath, Baronet, and Francis Baring of Piccadilly in Middlesex (all being of the fourth part).  Frances Emily Baring was a granddaughter of William Bingham and was due to inherit some of his property through her mother. 

 

                        This indenture was copied in May 1886, several months after Frances Emily Baring Simpson died.

 

02x2.21           “Dated 13th November 1857, copy, Settlement on the marriage of William Baring de Lotbiniere Bingham, Esquire, with Miss Helen Emily Pemberton.”

 

                        The parties in this settlement were Marie Charlotte Chartier de Lotbiniere Bingham, widow of William Bingham of Philadelphia (first part); William Baring de Lotbiniere Bingham, eldest son of William Bingham (second part); Helen Emily Pemberton of Blandford Square, Middlesex (third part); and Alexander Hugh Baring of Buckenham House, and Henry Bingham Mildmay of Bishopsgate Street, London (both of fourth part). 

 

02x2.22           “Extract from Marriage Settlement of Lord William George Spencer Scott Compton and the Honble Mary Florence Baring, dated 28th April 1884.”

 

                        The parties in this settlement were the Honorable Mary Florence Baring of Kent House, Knightsbridge (first part); The Honorable William George Spencer Scott Compton of Castle Ashby, second son of William Maclean, Marquis of Northampton (second part); Honorable  Louise Caroline, Dowager Baroness Ashburton, mother of Miss Baring (third part); and George Granville Leveson Gower, Reginald Baliol Brett, Edward Charles Baring, and Henry Bingham Mildmay (all of fourth part).

 

 

 

Box 2: Deeds (also one deed in Box 1)

 

02x2.7             “Deed, Saml. Hastings & others to James Bingham”

 

            July 7, 1741: between Samuel Hastings (shipwright of Philadelphia) and his wife Susanna Hastings (parties of first part); John Fox (shipwright of Philadelphia) (party of second part); and James Bingham (merchant of Philadelphia) (party of third part); begins with proprietor William Penn granting land along the Delaware River to Jonathan Duckett (bricklayer, Philadelphia) in 1694.  Also mentions Thomas Duckett, Margaret Walker (widow of Joseph Walker), Thomas Sison, who apparently conveyed the land to Samuel Hastings, who seems to have conveyed the land to both John Fox and James Bingham

 

02x2.8             “Deed, Jno. Kerlin & wife to Jno. Stamper, 1745”

 

            Feb. 6, 1745: between John Kerlin (glazier of Philadelphia) and his wife Ann (parties of first part); and John Stamper (merchant of Philadelphia) (party of second part).  Again, the deed begins with proprietor William Penn granting land in 1684 to a number of Germans, including Francis Daniel Pastorius.

 

 [This deed is a bit difficult to read because of discoloration, not helped by the fact that it is so wide that it is difficult to follow a line across the page.]

 

 

02x2.9             “Deed, Hanah [sic] Linley, admr. & others to William Allen”

 

                        There are three indentures which are attached, all for land in Durham township, Bucks County.   The first indenture, the one dated 1745, is printed with the words This Indenture, and an elaborate calligraphy design which includes a lion, a unicorn, a rose, and a thistle.

 

            April 9, 1745: Hanah Linley was the widow of Thomas Linley, a blacksmith in Lancaster; their son James Linley, also a blacksmith, is mentioned, as are Robert Murray (merchant of Lancaster) and his wife Mary (who was the daughter of Thomas Linley).  All these are parties of the first part.  William Allen, a Philadelphia merchant, is the party of the second part.  The history of the ownership of the property includes Samuel Powell (carpenter), Jeremiah Langhorne (of Bucks County), and many other men.

 

            November 1747: William Allen (merchant of Philadelphia) and his wife Margaret (parties of first part) to Edward Shippen (also a Philadelphia merchant).  This describes the property as an iron works with improvements, buildings, ways, woods, waters, water courses, servants, slaves, cattle, boats, canoes, utensils, and implements.

 

            June 19, 1754: Edward Shippen (late of Philadelphia, now of Lancaster) and his wife Mary (parties of first part) convey to William Logan of Stenton.

 

 

02x2.10           “Deed, John Holton and wife to John Knowles”

 

            April 25, 1748: John Holton (lawyer, of Radly, Chester County) and his wife Elizabeth (parties of firs part) conveyed to John Knowles (joiner of Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware): a lot on north side of Lombard Street, adjoining properties of Joseph Shippen and Edward Shippen.

 

            In their signatures, the Holtons spelled their surname as Houlton.

 

 

02x2.11           “Deed, David McIlvaine to Alexander Reynolds, 26 June 1754”

           

                        June 26, 1754: David McIlvaine (merchant of Philadelphia) conveyed to Alexander Reynolds (shopkeeper) a tract of land on Front Street.

 

 

02x2.12           “Deed, Martin Eichelberger & others, executors of Barnet Holzinger, deceased, to Thomas Hartley, for a lot of ground in York Town, no. 89, Penna.”

 

            August 18, 1773: parties of first part were Martin Eichelberger, Frederick Eichelberger, and Elizabeth Holtzinger (wife of Barnet Holzinger), all of York County, executors of Barnet Holtzinger of Baltimore.  Party of second part was Thomas Hartley, a lawyer in York Town, York County.  Barnet Holtzinger (also known as Berhnart Holtzinger, a yeoman) bought the land (lot no. 89), located on the south side of High Street in York Town, in 1752 from Richard and Thomas Penn.

 

            This deed is on paper, not parchment or vellum.

 

 

02x2.13           “Deed Poll, Joseph Cowperthwait, Esq., Shff., to Edward Laskey”

 

            Aug. 20, 1786; Joseph Cowperthwait, acting in his capacity as sheriff of Philadelphia, sold a piece of land which once belonged to Joseph Johnson, deceased, to Edward Laskey.  Also mentioned were Henry Howell, his wife Mary Howell (widow of Thomas Patterson); William Walker; Johnson’s administrators Sarah Johnson and Benjamin Jones; and others.

 

 

02x2.14           “Deed Poll, Joseph Cowperthwait, Esq., Shff., to Moses Coxe, lot no. 17, Moyamensing, 25 Sept. 1786”

 

            July 7, 1786: pretty much the same as 02x2.13, but this time the land is sold to Moses Coxe.

 

 

02x2.15           “Deed Poll, Joseph Cowperthwait, Esq., Shff., to Moses Coxe, 1a 140, Moyamensing, 25 Sept. 1786”

           

July 19, 1786: pretty much the same as 02x2.13, but this time the land is sold to Moses Coxe.

 

 

02x2.16           “Deed, William Forbes and Mary his wife to William Bingham, Esqr., Moyamensing; part of no. 30”

 

            Dec. 21, 1789: William Forbes (Philadelphia merchant) and his wife Mary convey to William Bingham two lots of meadow ground in Moyamensing.

 

 

[02x2.17 – in Box 1]

 

 

02x2.18           “Deed, Moses Coxe & wife to William Bingham, Esqr., in Moyamensing township on Second Street, May 31, 1790; part of no. 30”

 

            May 31, 1790: Moses Coxe (Philadelphia shopkeeper) and his wife Elizabeth convey property to William Bingham; apparently the same property as mentioned in either 02x2.14 or 02x2.15.

 

            Mr. and Mrs. Coxe signed their surnames as Cox.

 

 

02x2.19           “Deed, Benjamn. Jones & Sarah his wife to William Bingham, Esquire, in Moyamensing, part of no. 30”

 

            March 16, 1791: Benjamin Jones (hatter in Southwark) and his wife Sarah convey to William Bingham a lot of meadow ground, part of the estate of the late Charles Brockden.

 

 

Rolled maps on shelf:

 

02x2.23           “Draught of a Tract of Land Situate on State Island in the township of Kingsessing … belonging to the estate of the late William Bingham, … [details of size of property] … surveyed August the 4th 1825 by Jno. Thompson”

 

            The land was along Eagle Creek, near the confluence of the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers.  The names of adjoining landowners are recorded.  There is some color on the map.  The paper is mounted on linen.

 

 

02x2.23           “Draught of three lots or parcels of land belonging to the estate of the late William Bingham, … [details of sizes of properties] … situate on Carpenters Island in the township [of Kingsessing], surveyed June 9th 1825 by Jno. Thompson”

 

            The land was on Boon’s and Carpenter’s Islands, with one tract along an arm of the Delaware River.  The names of adjoining landowners are recorded.  There is some color on the map.  The paper is mounted on linen.  Written on the linen: Boon Island & Carpenter’s Isld.