Thomas Bingham, Sr

Thomas Bingham, born in Concord, 19 July 1824; died in Maeser, Uintah, Utah, 31 December 1889; buried in Vernal, Uintah, Utah, 6 January 1890. Married in Salt Lake, 6 September 1849, Caron [Karen] Happock Holladay, President Brigham Young officiating. Children: (1) Thomas, Jr., born in Ogden, 12 August 1850, married Mary Elizabeth Gfroerer (Salt Lake, 1 June 1874) and her twin sister, Margaret Louisa (Salt Lake, 25 October 1875); incarcerated for polygamy, 1892; died in Maeser, 23 January 1945; (2) Mary, born in San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California, 18 September 1852, married Mark Moroni Hall in Huntsville, 12 January 1877, and Philip Stringham, 21 December 1907; died in Maeser, 30 July 1936; (3) Lucinda Katherine, born in San Bernardino, 3 November 1854, married Charles Ashton Nye in Salt Lake, 2 August 1875; died in Vernal, 12 January 1918; (4) David Holladay, born in Ogden, 19 August 1857, m. Harriette Perry in Mountain Dell, Uintah, Utah, 22 February 1882; died in McGrath, Alberta, Canada, 1 August 1952; (5) Charles Colson Rich, born in Huntsville, 12 June 1860, married Mary Louisa Holden in Logan, Cache, Utah, 5 May 1886, and Mary Mickleson [Michelson]; died in Shelley, Bingham, Idaho, 5 February, 1942; (6) Phoebe Karen, born in Ogden, 4 June 1862; married George W. Hislop in Salt Lake, 11 October 1878; died in Vernal, 9 February 1929; (7) Elzada, born in Ogden, 21 April 1864, died 26 March 1867; (8) Martha Alice, born in Huntsville, 1 October 1866, married Don Carlos Perry in Mountain Dell, 24 December 1883; died in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, 15 April 1930; (9) Clara, born in Huntsville, 25 October 1868, died 3 November 1869; (10) Tracy Tyler, born in Huntsville, 24 October 1871, died 27 March 1872.

Much of the history of Thomas and his family is succinctly related in the following "tribute" to his wife: "Karen Happoch Holladay was born May 4, 1830, at [Mosco,] Marion county, Alabama, the daughter of John Holladay and Catherine B. Higgins. When she was fourteen years of age she was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She came on the westward trek with her parents, brothers and sisters being then in her seventeenth year. It is claimed that she rode most of the way on horseback. While the Mississippi company was stationed at Fort Pueblo, Karen became acquainted with Thomas Bingham, a private in Company B of the Mormon Battalion. Two years after her arrival in Utah she was married to him on September 6, 1849, and soon after the young couple moved to Ogden, where they established their first home. In March 1851, they were called to go with a company of Saints to help establish the settlement of San Bernardino, California where they remained until the spring of 1855, returning to their former home in Ogden. In the spring of 1856 her husband was called on a mission to the Salmon River Indians where he served two years and during this time she was left with the responsibility of caring for their three children. Her family was with those who went south during the Johnston army episode. In the spring of 1862 the Bingham family helped to establish Huntsville in Ogden Canyon and, in the fall of 1877, moved to Ashley Valley, locating first on the Green River; then, in the spring of 1878, they moved to Dry Fork (Mountain Dell), north of Vernal, where they resided for several years. In the fall of 1884 they moved to Mill Ward now Maeser Ward. Her husband died December 31, 1889. Through the years she remained a faithful Latter-day Saint and for many years was a Relief Society teacher. She was the mother of ten children all of whom lived in Ashley Valley the greater part of their lives. After the death of her husband she made her home with her daughters, Mary Hall Stringham and Phoebe C. Hyslop. She passed away at the home of the latter January 18, 1915."

On 16 July 1846, with brother Erastus and brother-in-law Elijah N. Freeman, Thomas enlisted in the Mormon Battalion. He traveled with the battalion some distance beyond Santa Fe, New Mexico, that year, but was sent to Pueblo, Colorado, with the second sick detachment, under command of Lieutenant W. W. Willis. The following spring, while en route to Fort Laramie, Captain Brown sent thirteen men on ahead, including Thomas, in pursuit of thieves and the horses they had stolen at Pueblo. This advance party, having recovered all but one of the stolen horses, joined with the Brigham Young Company on the banks of the Green River. Thus was Thomas among the first saints, numbering 159 in all, to reach Salt Lake, 29 July 1847. With his brothers, Erastus and Sanford, Thomas tended Bingham livestock at the mouth of Bingham Canyon. In 1850, he took his new wife to Ogden, where he had his first child. In late Summer, 1851, Thomas answered the call to go with Apostle Charles C. Rich and Amasa Lyman to establish, at Rancho de San Bernardino, a "stronghold for the gathering of the Saints in California." He stayed in San Bernardino with his family until 1855. There, with Justus Morse and a Mr. Joyce, he built the Salamander sawmill on Huston Creek, but subsequently sold his interest in this operation to Bishop Crosby. Thomas returned to Ogden with his family in May 1855. In March 1856, he answered a call to serve in the ill-fated Salmon River Mission (Fort Lemhi, Idaho). There he labored among the "Lamanites" until 1858. From the Journal of Jacob Miller, we learn that the missionaries returned to their homes in Utah each winter, and that Thomas served as "Acting President" of the mission from time to time. In 1858, with the approach of Johnston's Army, Thomas relocated his family to Payson, Utah. In 1859, President Young gave him permission to seek gold in California, on condition that he use the proceeds for the benefit of the Church. He had no more success in this venture than his brothers Erastus and Willard had a decade before. Returning to Northern Utah, Thomas helped settle, perhaps as early as 1861, but certainly by 1862, the village of Huntsville, where he served as counselor to Bishops Jefferson Hunt and Francis A. Hammond. He operated a lumber mill in or about Huntsville, in partnership with his brother Willard, until 1877, when he relocated with his family to Ashley Valley. Meanwhile, in 1868, he entered into a contract with his brother-in-law, Lorin Farr, to grade two miles of road for the transcontinental railroad. Thomas, as first presiding elder of Ashley Valley, established a branch of the Church there under direction of the Wasatch Stake. Within two years, there were in the valley three distinct settlements: Ashely Center (Vernal), Mountain Dell on Dry Creek, and Incline (Jensen) on the Green River. The territorial legislature created Uintah County in 1880. The first meeting of the County Court was held on 3 March 1880, with Thomas Bingham as selectman. At the first election, in August 1881, Thomas was elected Probate Judge, an office he held for five years. The following month, September 1881, he was ordained bishop of Mountain Dell. In 1884, the family removed to Mill Ward (Maeser), where Thomas died.

• Military_service: Utah, United States - ?
• Residence: Vernal, Uintah, Utah, United States
• Residence: Utah County, Deseret - 1851
• Residence: Utah, United States - 1851
• Residence: Ashley, Uintah, Utah, United States - 1880
• Thomas was born in Littleton, New Hampshire on July 19, 1824. His family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints (also known as the Mormon church) in 1833. Thomas was in the Mormon Battalion, and was sent with the sick detachment to Fort Pueblo, Colorado. There he met Carron Happuch Holladay. Caron and her family were traveling with the Mississippi Saints, and also wintered in Fort Pueblo. Caron and Thomas were married on September 6, 1849 by President Brigham Young. Thomas and his brothers Erastus and Sanford tended livestock at the mouth of Bingham canyon (the canyon is located in the Oquirrh Mountains approximately 25 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. It was named after the Bingham brothers who were the first settlers there). In 1850 Thomas and Caron moved to Ogden. In March 1851, they were called to go with a company of Saints to help establish the settlement of San Bernardino, California where they remained until the spring of 1855, returning to their former home in Ogden. In the spring of 1856 Thomas was called on a mission to the Salmon River Indians where he served two years and during this time Caron was left with the responsibility of caring for their three children. Their family was with those who went south during the Johnston army episode. In the spring of 1862 the Bingham family helped to establish Huntsville in Ogden Canyon and, in the fall of 1877, moved to Ashley Valley, locating first on the Green River; then, in the spring of 1878, they moved to Dry Fork (Mountain Dell), north of Vernal, where they resided for several years. In the fall of 1884 they moved to Mill Ward now Maeser Ward. Thomas died December 31, 1889.

Children Thomas Bingham Jr. B. 8/12/1850 D. 1/23/1945 Mary Bingham B. 9/18/1852 D. 6/20/1936 Lucinda Catherine Bingham B. 11/3/1854 D. 1/12/1918 David Holladay Bingham B. 8/19/1857 D.8/1/1952 Charles Colton Rich Bingham B. 6/12/1860 D. 2/5/1942 Phoebe Caron Bingham B. 6/4/1862 D. 2/9/1929 Elzada Bingham B. 4/21/1864 D. 3/26/1867 Martha Bingham B. 10/1/1866 D. 11/21/1949 Clara Bingham B. 10/25/1868 D. 11/3/1869 Tracy Tyler Bingham B. 10/24/1871 D. 3/27/1872

Obituary from the archives of the Ogden Standard Thomas Bingham Senior A brief sketch of the life and synopsis of the funeral of Elder Thomas Bingham Sen., who died at 20 minutes to 2 o'clock on the morning of Dec. 31, 1889. Brother Bingham was born July 19, 1821, In Littleton, Grafton Co, New Hampshire and was the son of Erastus and Lucinda Gates Bingham. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1837 and shared with his father's family the persecutions of the Saints. He received his endowments in the Nauvoo Temple, enlisted in the Mormon Battalion July 16, 1846, and traveled with the Battalion some distance beyond Santa Fe, where he was sent back with the second sick detachment to winter at Pueblo. He came to Salt Lake July 29, 1847. He was married September 6, 1849, to Caron H. Holliday, and moved to Ogden in 1850. In 1851 he was called to go to California, with C.C. Rich and Amasa Lyman. Returning to Ogden in 1855, he was called in 1856 on a mission to Salmon River, where he labored among the Lamanites until the Saints were called home on account of hostile Indians. He reached home the time of the "move," and moved his family south to Payson, and then returned to Ogden to guard the property of the Saints. In 1862 he moved to Huntsville, Weber County, where he lived several years. While there he was first counselor to President Jefferson Hunt, and after his removal was appointed counselor to Bishop F. A. Hammond.

In 1877 he moved with his family to Ashley, Uintah County.  With the sanction and approval of President Taylor and the Twelve Apostles, he established a branch of the Church at that place, and was chosen by the people to preside over it.  He was the first Presiding Elder of this place, also the first ordained Bishop.  He was appointed selectman by the Legislature, and was the first Probate Judge of the county.  He served two terms, and was nominated for the third, but declined on account of ill health.  He was a member of the High Council at the time of his death.

The funeral of Brother Bingham was held in the Uintah Stake House, Sunday Jan. 5th, 1890.  The house was suitably draped for the occasion.  There was a large attendance of relatives and friends, and the occasion, though sad, was an impressive one.  Among the speakers were Brothers Samuel Campbell, Matthew Caldwell, Harley Morley, James H. Glines, Dannie Winn and Samuel Thompson, members of the Mormon Battalion, and while they sought to convey consolation to the bereaved, and spoke in terms enlogistic of the departed, their emotions were so strong as to almost overcome them, and every heart in the congregation was touched.  Counselor R. S. Collett addressed the congregation for a short time.  He said that it was characteristic of the deceased, that he was strong in his convictions and ever on the side of right.  His remarks were full of comfort and hope and calculated to inspire his hearers with a desire for eternal life.  President Bennion endorsed all that had been said, and truly did he say that a good man had left us, nor was there any one present who had known him but would have added their testimony that all that had been said that day in praise of Brother Bingham was the truth.  

So was he spoken of while he lived.  So has he left his record behind him.  Brother Bingham leaves behind a wife and seven children, all of whom were present at his funeral with the exception of his son David, who is at present on a mission to the Southern States. Ashley, Uintah County, Jan 10, ‘90

* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Dec 16 2020, 0:27:26 UTC